Living: April 2009
Talbott Street jumps the shark, but it's a tiny one...
Filed by Jerame Davis | April 30, 2009 | 4:23 PM |Yesterday I got an invitation via Facebook from Talbott Street for an upcoming event they're promoting. I first saw the invitation in my email notifications from Facebook, which are text only. Here's what it said: On Thursday May 7th, Talbott...Read More
Talbott Street jumps the shark, but it's a tiny one...
Filed by Jerame Davis | April 30, 2009 | 4:23 PM |Yesterday I got an invitation via Facebook from Talbott Street for an upcoming event they're promoting. I first saw the invitation in my email notifications from Facebook, which are text only. Here's what it said: On Thursday May 7th, Talbott...Read More
HRC Releases "Introduction to Welcoming Schools" Guide
Filed by Dana Rudolph | April 30, 2009 | 1:30 PM |The recent suicides of two young boys after repeated bullying at school have made many of us, myself included, wonder what we could do. One of the ways the HRC Foundation Family Project has responded is to push up the...Read More
Overheard at the grocery store
Filed by Bil Browning | April 30, 2009 | 1:00 PM |As I was checking out at the Kroger, a female clerk walked up to the lady ringing me up. Clerk 1: Can you work over today? Clerk 2: It's my birthday! Clerk 1: Really? Clerk 2: You forgot my birthday?...Read More
Circumcision: A cut above the rest, or the cruelest cut of all?
Filed by Father Tony | April 30, 2009 | 11:00 AM |Dear Father Tony, I read where you were at a dinner party where circumcision was discussed. I just had to tell you that my parents, my brother, his pregnant wife and me had a big knock down last night...Read More
A-She-Ville
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 29, 2009 | 11:30 AM |What a glorious time to visit Asheville, North Carolina! Kudos to my planning team. It totally makes up for Detroit in February. It had been a cool, long rainy non-springy spring in the Northeast, gray and overcast, and I was...Read More
Andrew Holleran Below Sea Level
Filed by Father Tony | April 29, 2009 | 8:00 AM |I do not admire him just because his newly published first novel, given to me thirty years ago by an older priest, instantly became my bible, guidebook and lexicon. I admire him because his writing is of the sort that...Read More
A New Storm
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 28, 2009 | 6:30 PM |As I was gearing up for a long week of meetings yesterday, I found out some awful news. My friend is sick. Very sick. I believe in my heart she'll be okay because she is the strongest person I know,...Read More
Public health means working together
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 28, 2009 | 4:00 PM |This afternoon I went to a health center in downtown Paris. I got the full gamut of STD screenings a month ago (negative for everything, thank you very much) [I got schooled, check out the comments.] and was told that...Read More
Gay Fashion Alert: You have license to dazzle until autumn.
Filed by Father Tony | April 28, 2009 | 3:00 PM |So much of fashion and style is defined by restraint, understatement and subdued colors and textures. You can imagine my delight in spotting a trend on the streets of gorgeous Miami Beach and subsequently in chique New York that flies...Read More
Dining Out For Life is Thursday!
Filed by Bil Browning | April 28, 2009 | 12:30 PM |A quick reminder that Thursday is Dining Out For Life. The event is a national fundraiser to raise money for HIV/AIDS organizations. In Indianapolis, the Damien Center is the recipient of the much needed cash. All you have to do...Read More
Fortune Small Business Magazine on Transgender Workers
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | April 28, 2009 | 10:30 AM |Fortune Small Business magazine put out an article on transgender workers today, available on the CNNMoney.com site. Entitled "When a staffer switches genders," the subtitle emphasizes tolerance and respect: "Coping with major changes can flummox a workplace, but you can...Read More
HIV+ People Be Aware of Swine Flu
Filed by Karen Ocamb | April 28, 2009 | 9:30 AM |Elected and public health officials are walking a fine line between expressing serious concern and provoking alarm over a new strain of swine flu that has killed 149 people in Mexico. The World Health Organization raised the threat level yesterday...Read More
Craiglist killer Philip Markoff also targeted men & transwomen
Filed by Bil Browning | April 27, 2009 | 6:30 PM |Another reminder that the closet and the constant socially reinforced shame of a non-heterosexual orientation can warp an individual: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy But that won't be the story... Instead, it'll be...Read More
New Outrage! documentary: Is outing justified?
Filed by Bil Browning | April 27, 2009 | 11:00 AM |We haven't talked about outing too much on Bilerico Project and with Outrage!, the new documentary on outing closeted anti-gay political figures hitting the big screen, the topic will soon be a national discussion. The movie outs Florida Governor Charlie...Read More
Transvestic Disorder and Policy Dysfunction in the DSM-V
Filed by Kelley Winters | April 27, 2009 | 9:30 AM |While the current psychiatric classification of "Gender Identity Disorder" in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has drawn global GLBTQ concern and controversy, the equally defamatory classification of "Transvestic Fetishism" has been largely overlooked by transadvocates and allies....Read More
Top ineffective ways to "convert" gay Christians
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 26, 2009 | 5:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Wendy writes about life, love, spirituality, humor, plus LGBT issues at Burning or building bridges in the community? Here are some top ineffective ways to “convert,” convince, coerce, cajole or otherwise change gay Christians. Quote scripture...Read More
Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami says they don't have to allow their patients visitors
Filed by Father Tony | April 26, 2009 | 10:00 AM |Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit against Jackson Memorial Hospital, on behalf of Janice Langbehn and her three children. Read this account of one family's experience at Jackson Memorial Hospital that has resulted in the formation of the Committee for...Read More
Bea Arthur has died
Filed by Bil Browning | April 25, 2009 | 5:45 PM |This one makes me particularly sad. Bea Arthur has passed away. I always saw some of myself in Dorothy Zbornak. The Gods of Comedy are weeping today. Beatrice Arthur, best known as the acerbic Maude Findlay on Norman Lear's sitcom...Read More
Apples to Apples
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 25, 2009 | 2:00 PM |Vacation is winding down. Jeanine made it up to Ogunquit and played a rousing game of Apples to Apples with the kids. It was hysterical. I highly recommend it for family game night. The hot dog taste test is waiting...Read More
Stonewall Library and Archives - a Must-See for all Fort Lauderdale visitors
Filed by Father Tony | April 24, 2009 | 2:00 PM |On Thursday, April 22, 2009, at the invitation of its Board of Directors, I attended the Donors' Reception celebrating the grand reopening of the Stonewall Library and Archives in their beautifully renovated digs at 1300 East Sunrise Blvd in Fort...Read More
To the Paris Projectors
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 24, 2009 | 10:30 AM |Like I mentioned yesterday, I'll be down at the Théâtre Côté Cour to see Quand mon coeur bat, je veux que tu l'entendes tonight and hang out at the cafe attached to the theater afterwards. If you're not doing anything...Read More
Coffee talk... for the better
Filed by Matt Comer | April 24, 2009 | 9:30 AM |Over at my recently renovated and reformated pad, InterstateQ.com, we've started publishing our first in-depth commentary series. The five-week series will be the first in a regular run of insightful commentary for and about the LGBT community. The first series,...Read More
Opposite Marriage
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 24, 2009 | 8:00 AM |What is "opposite marriage" exactly?...Read More
Help out on LGBT health policy
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 23, 2009 | 5:30 PM |I got this in my inbox, and this is important. We need for these large, government studies to ask about LGBT people so we know the needs of our communities and our population when it comes to health care. Sexual...Read More
Indiana AIDS Fund Spotlight 2009
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 23, 2009 | 4:00 PM |Editor's Note: Guest blogger Josh Verbeke is a student at IUPUI and a longtime LGBT activist. Josh attended Spotlight 2009 on behalf of Bilerico-Indiana. Monday at Clowes Hall of Butler University, a one-night gala performance earned over $350,000. The money,...Read More
When it's a Man's World
Filed by Father Tony | April 23, 2009 | 10:30 AM |Dear Father Tony, I was reading Alex Blaze's post about women in gay bars and I was wondering about where you stand on the issue given the amount of time you spend in them? NYCKnickers...Read More
Stuck in Loneliness
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 22, 2009 | 1:00 PM |Editors' note: Monica F. Helms is the president of the Transgender Americans Veterans Association. We all know that loneliness does not limit itself to LGB or T people. This feeling probably strikes 100% of the human population at one time...Read More
Indiana man convicted of battery on autistic kid during "exorcism"
Filed by Bil Browning | April 22, 2009 | 12:15 PM |Oh, Indiana. There's a reason why we're considered the hillbillies of the Midwest... BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A man who says he tried to cast demons from a 14-year-old autistic boy from southern Indiana has been convicted on charges that he...Read More
Disposable
Filed by Mercedes Allen | April 22, 2009 | 9:30 AM |It's not really "murder" if the victim is disposable. That's the theme that keeps resurfacing when trans panic defenses are used to effectively stave off any chance of serious sentencing for the murder of a woman who happens to have...Read More
Earth Day
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 22, 2009 | 9:30 AM |From my inbox: April 25th, 11AM-4PM: Come to the Earth Day Indiana Festival in downtown Indianapolis at the American Legion Mall (Meridian and North St). Come visit more than 100 environmental and conservation exhibits, listen to great music, eat fine...Read More
Let's talk about sext
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 21, 2009 | 7:00 PM |I'm so far behind the times I don't even have a cell phone, but I can see why what this DA has planned won't help children. Mattilda posted a few weeks ago about rural Pennsylvania DA George Skumanick's crusade to...Read More
The importance of being out
Filed by Austen Crowder | April 21, 2009 | 4:30 PM |Once upon a time, I taught English at a Catholic high school. My teaching style led to me leaving good impressions on many of the students, most of whom were begging me to stay by the end of the year....Read More
What If Your Dream Job Doesn't Exist Anymore?
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 21, 2009 | 3:30 PM |Shelly Palmer asks a rather disturbing question. How many people are now looking for jobs that no longer exist? If you used to be a computer photo typesetter, you were replaced in the 1980's with desktop publishing. Now, if you...Read More
Another Boy Kills Himself
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 21, 2009 | 2:00 PM |I wanted to write today about the cats howling all the way up to Ogunquit, where the boys and I are spending April break. Or about how beautiful the ocean is, how it brings me to a place of calm....Read More
'Getting Real' About Bullying-Related Suicides
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 21, 2009 | 12:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Debra Chasnoff is an Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and the Executive Director of GroundSpark, a non-profit organization creating visionary films and educational campaigns that move individuals and communities to take action for a more just world....Read More
Why Regular Sex in Monogamous Relationships Is Important
Filed by Michele O'Mara | April 21, 2009 | 9:30 AM |So what's the big deal about sex? Some want it, some don't. Truth is, there are all sorts of things in life we want, but don't necessarily get. Why then, is sex perceived by so many as some sort of...Read More
No queers allowed at straight bars and blushing brides at gay bars
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 20, 2009 | 1:00 PM |Remember when everything was so much simpler and people just assumed that we were violent perverts and left us alone? Well, not anymore. A few weeks ago the Chicago Tribune ran an interesting story about how lots of gay bars...Read More
Teabagging: tongue-in-cheek causes hide-'n-seek etymology.
Filed by Father Tony | April 20, 2009 | 12:30 PM |The mainstream usage of previously gay-owned sexual terminology is a pleasant sign of the better times in which we live. Not long ago, drag and its doings crossed-over to the daylight of respectability. In the transition, drag lost its gayness...Read More
2010 Already?
Filed by Bo Shuff | April 20, 2009 | 10:30 AM |At least here in Ohio, conversations are already starting in on the nominees for our open Senate Seat. Even though it is an Ohio interest story, I think it bears mention here as a tactic for moving forward on marriage...Read More
Penguin Three-peat!
Filed by Dana Rudolph | April 20, 2009 | 9:30 AM |For the third year in a row, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell's And Tango Makes Three, about two male penguins who care for an orphaned egg and raise a chick, tops the American Library Association's (ALA) Top Ten list of...Read More
Boycott Amazon? Why?
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | April 19, 2009 | 6:30 PM |As one among hundreds of authors and publishers who were directly affected by the Amazon crisis, I'm putting my final two cents on the table. I've read all the blogs, including those as far afield as the Guardian in London....Read More
Remember Hillary? She Still Needs Your Money!
Filed by Nina Smith | April 19, 2009 | 5:00 PM |Not too long ago, if you went to HillaryClinton.com, you found the 2008 presidential nomination race in high gear with Clinton winning more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history. What a difference a year makes....Read More
Life Is To Shotr Too Be Perfec
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 19, 2009 | 4:00 PM |Let me ask you something. Do typos bother you? OK. Let me ask you something else. Why?...Read More
@ Kiehl's - Miami Beach Gay Pride
Filed by Father Tony | April 19, 2009 | 3:30 PM |Kiehl's loves to throw open their doors to the LGBTers. On Friday evening, to celebrate the Miami Beach Gay Pride weekend, they unfurled the rainbow and poured the wine. I found myself awash in moisturizer and good company at their...Read More
Eve Sedgwick Memorial Open Thread
Filed by Paige Schilt | April 19, 2009 | 12:30 PM |I learned of Eve Sedgwick's death from a friend who is also a former professor of mine. Given Sedgwick's loving, brilliant writings on queer pedagogy and friendship, it seemed like a fitting way for the news to travel--from teacher to...Read More
Eve Sedgwick Memorial Open Thread
Filed by Paige Schilt | April 19, 2009 | 12:30 PM |I learned of Eve Sedgwick's death from a friend who is also a former professor of mine. Given Sedgwick's loving, brilliant writings on queer pedagogy and friendship, it seemed like a fitting way for the news to travel--from teacher to...Read More
Stories from the Helpline
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 19, 2009 | 11:00 AM |Bryan Keller is a volunteer Helpline counselor on The Trevor Helpline. He volunteers at The Randy Stone West Coast Call Center in Los Angeles. Not everyone who calls the Trevor helpline is perched at the edge of the abyss, contemplating...Read More
All Travel Writers go to Hell? Not Paul Rubio!
Filed by Father Tony | April 18, 2009 | 11:00 PM |Miami Beach Gay Pride was off to a fine start with a Friday night book-signing on fashionable Lincoln Road in South Beach. It was held at a wonderful shop called Books & Books. In the following video, I interview author...Read More
Don't read this now. You'll miss the parade.
Filed by Father Tony | April 18, 2009 | 11:00 AM |Later, I'll be sharing my photos and video of a book-signing event (Paul Rubio's Out Traveler South Florida)on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach last night, a fun time at Kiehl's with folks from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,...Read More
I Told You So
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 18, 2009 | 8:00 AM |What a week! From the new Catholic Cardinal in New York to the Amazon controversy, I told you so....Read More
The Hamster Wheel
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 17, 2009 | 4:00 PM |The term “hamster wheel” has been stuck in my mind all day. Just one question. How does one get off the crazy thing?...Read More
Sex in Monogamous Relationships
Filed by Michele O'Mara | April 17, 2009 | 2:00 PM |Did you know that women are more receptive to sex when their feet are warm? Lets talk about sex. After all, who doesn't like to talk about sex? This topic is so involved that I've written a three-part series on...Read More
Day of Silence open thread
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 17, 2009 | 1:30 PM |Today is the National Day of Silence. Are you participating? Any Day of Silence stories?...Read More
Day of Silence open thread
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 17, 2009 | 1:30 PM |Today is the National Day of Silence. Are you participating? Any Day of Silence stories?...Read More
The Fear of Hope
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 17, 2009 | 12:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Jeff Buppert's work has appeared in Frontiers, Drummer and The Family Business Report, as well as BuzzFlash and on stage at the Powerhouse Theater in Santa Monica; his story on gay adoption will appear in the...Read More
Momentum for marriage is building...
Filed by Michael Crawford | April 17, 2009 | 12:00 PM |The movement to win marriage equality is getting bigger, stronger and more diverse each and every day. People across the DC and across the nation are opening their hearts and minds and realizing that marriage is and should be a...Read More
Angie Zapata's Murderer is About to Cook His Own Goose
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 16, 2009 | 6:00 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Abigail Jensen is a trans woman and attorney in Prescott, Arizona. She is also President of QsquaredYouth, a member of the boards of directors of the Prescott Area Women's Shelter and TransMentors International, and a general...Read More
Telling the Stories
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 16, 2009 | 4:00 PM |I took my dog for a walk today. It's been a long week and I wanted some fresh air, some quiet time. There were packs of suburban moms. They seem to run in packs out there. I usually go out...Read More
Post-Personhood Parenting
Filed by Terrance Heath | April 16, 2009 | 1:30 PM |Joel Schwartzberg is going to get letters. That was my first thought when I read his "My Turn" column in the latest Newsweek about the depression he experienced after becoming a dad for the first time. He's already getting...Read More
The Virginia State Bar's Idea of Diversity
Filed by Michael Hamar | April 16, 2009 | 1:00 PM |Manuel A. Capsalis, the current President of the Virginia State Bar, has made much of the issue of diversity and the need for the membership of the Bar to better reflect the demographics of Virginia. Despite the vast increase in...Read More
When you argue, and you will argue....
Filed by Father Tony | April 16, 2009 | 11:30 AM |Dear Father Tony, My partner and I spend all our time together arguing. We try to stop but it's impossible. I dread going home because I know what's waiting. Yesterday he told me that he feels the same. It's...Read More
Tearing Families Apart, When We Should Be Uniting Them
Filed by Steve Ralls | April 15, 2009 | 4:00 PM |Shirley Tan and Jay Mercado are, by all accounts, a picture-perfect family. The two have been together - happily - for more than two decades. They have adorable 12-year-old twins. They married in 2004. And they are hard-working, productive members...Read More
Hate crimes against homeless people -- is there a solution?
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | April 15, 2009 | 1:30 PM |Recently the LA County Board of Supervisors made the decision to start tracking and reporting attacks against homeless people as hate crimes. Bias-related violent crime against homeless people for no other reason than their vulnerable status is rampant -- during...Read More
Hate crimes against homeless people -- is there a solution?
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | April 15, 2009 | 1:30 PM |Recently the LA County Board of Supervisors made the decision to start tracking and reporting attacks against homeless people as hate crimes. Bias-related violent crime against homeless people for no other reason than their vulnerable status is rampant -- during...Read More
Do'in The Math on Tax Day
Filed by John Shields | April 15, 2009 | 1:00 PM |It's April 15th again. You know what that means? I'm gay, I can't get married to my husband (in the eyes of Uncle Sam), and I'm getting taxed without any representation because I live in "The District." What the frik'?...Read More
Do'in The Math on Tax Day
Filed by John Shields | April 15, 2009 | 1:00 PM |It's April 15th again. You know what that means? I'm gay, I can't get married to my husband (in the eyes of Uncle Sam), and I'm getting taxed without any representation because I live in "The District." What the frik'?...Read More
Do'in The Math on Tax Day
Filed by John Shields | April 15, 2009 | 1:00 PM |It's April 15th again. You know what that means? I'm gay, I can't get married to my husband (in the eyes of Uncle Sam), and I'm getting taxed without any representation because I live in "The District." What the frik'?...Read More
Tax day open thread
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 15, 2009 | 10:30 AM |Two protests going on today for tax day. First, the famous tea baggers, told by their corporate sponsors to protest a tax increase on the wealthy (as well as jobs creation), will be having tea parties all over the country....Read More
Faith Community and LGBT Community Come Together
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 14, 2009 | 5:00 PM |I went to a funeral yesterday. Of a little boy. 11 years old. He lay in the coffin, in a grown up suit, dead. So little. He killed himself last week because he was taunted, over and over, for being...Read More
National Car Rental Employee To Trans Customer: "Screwed-Up Man Faggot"
Filed by Pam Spaulding | April 13, 2009 | 7:00 PM |Note from Pam: This is a post by Pam's House Blend contributor Autumn Sandeen, who was contacted by the victim in this case to expose this atrocious treatment by a National Rental Car staffer and the Little Rock Police Department....Read More
Alberta Finance Minister: "I Didn't Know We Covered That"
Filed by Mercedes Allen | April 13, 2009 | 3:00 PM |When Finance Minister Iris Evans discussed the Province's decision to delist Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) on the day after the budget was handed down, she said, "I didn't even know we covered that." Reportedly, there was a look of hate...Read More
11 Year Old Kills Himself After Gay Taunts Left Unaddressed
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 13, 2009 | 11:30 AM |An eleven-year-old boy hung himself in Springfield, MA last week. He had been repeatedly taunted as "gay" even though he did not identify as such. His mother went to the school over and over again, trying to get something done....Read More
LGBT-inclusive White House Egg Roll liveblog
Filed by Dustin Kight | April 13, 2009 | 10:00 AM |Editors' note: All day today Dustin Kight from the Family Equality Council will be bringing us updates from LGBT families who were invited to the White House Easter Egg Roll. Tune in for more throughout the day! Good morning, all,...Read More
Forgiving The Franklins
Filed by John Shields | April 12, 2009 | 1:00 PM |The incredibly powerful and effective response to the bigoted and idiotic National Organization for Marriage "advertisement" has knee-capped the group of intolerants, and all the mashups were hilarious. You've seen them, so no need for me to recap. But awesome...Read More
Forgiving The Franklins
Filed by John Shields | April 12, 2009 | 1:00 PM |The incredibly powerful and effective response to the bigoted and idiotic National Organization for Marriage "advertisement" has knee-capped the group of intolerants, and all the mashups were hilarious. You've seen them, so no need for me to recap. But awesome...Read More
Have a hip hop Easter
Filed by Bil Browning | April 12, 2009 | 9:00 AM |Happy Easter everyone! Consider this your holiday open thread. What's on your agenda and/or mind today? We'll be starting a liveblog of the finally LGBT inclusive White House egg roll shortly. (The liveblog is tomorrow! Whoops!) That'll be it for...Read More
Jack Wrangler's Penis and the Goodness of Hyper-Masculinity
Filed by Father Tony | April 11, 2009 | 4:30 PM |He was so much more than just a power-penis and the unapologetic (and twenty years younger!) husband of legendary big-band singer, Margaret Whiting. He was the man who put to rest my immature fears that all gay men were either...Read More
Marriage in DC: The 411
Filed by Michael Crawford | April 11, 2009 | 1:00 PM |Its been quite a week in the movement for marriage equality. The Iowa Supreme Court legalized marriage between same-sex couples in a unanimous decision. The Vermont became the first state to legalize marriage legislatively when the state's legislature overrode the...Read More
Transgender Constitutional Rights: How Justice Kennedy Killed the Sex Police
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | April 11, 2009 | 10:30 AM |I will be giving a talk, titled as above, at Hampshire College on April 17 in Western Mass. The working title was "Lawrence v. Texas and the Constitutional Right to Gender Autonomy," but that put even me to sleep, and...Read More
Right or Happy?
Filed by Sara Whitman | April 10, 2009 | 4:00 PM |I've been in a mood lately. I don't know if this book I'm working on is a good idea. Writing it leaves me in a miserable place. It sends me back to old places. I don't want to feel that...Read More
Fathers, sons and lies about marriage
Filed by Sean Bugg | April 10, 2009 | 3:30 PM |Two of the biggest catalysts for intra-familial bad behavior and hurt feelings are funerals and weddings. A grandparent dies and someone is always ready to lay claim to contested family heirlooms. When a niece marries the "wrong" man, an aunt...Read More
A friendly reminder: Cut-a-thon this Wednesday, April 15
Filed by Austen Crowder | April 10, 2009 | 2:30 PM |Just a reminder to everyone looking to support a good cause: the cut-a-thon in support of Dr. Rodney Anderson's office will take place this next Wednesday, April 15. I'll be there from 2:00-3:00, if you're interested in meeting....Read More
A friendly reminder: Cut-a-thon this Wednesday, April 15
Filed by Austen Crowder | April 10, 2009 | 2:30 PM |Just a reminder to everyone looking to support a good cause: the cut-a-thon in support of Dr. Rodney Anderson's office will take place this next Wednesday, April 15. I'll be there from 2:00-3:00, if you're interested in meeting....Read More
Reflections on the Iowa Supreme Court Ruling
Filed by Michael Hamar | April 10, 2009 | 1:00 PM |In a perhaps surprising - but totally correct - ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week that limiting civil marriage to one man and one woman to the exclusion of same sex couples violates the equal protection clause...Read More
Reflections on the Iowa Supreme Court Ruling
Filed by Michael Hamar | April 10, 2009 | 1:00 PM |In a perhaps surprising - but totally correct - ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week that limiting civil marriage to one man and one woman to the exclusion of same sex couples violates the equal protection clause...Read More
Reflections on the Iowa Supreme Court Ruling
Filed by Michael Hamar | April 10, 2009 | 1:00 PM |In a perhaps surprising - but totally correct - ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled last week that limiting civil marriage to one man and one woman to the exclusion of same sex couples violates the equal protection clause...Read More
A quick point from a "nut" about mental illness
Filed by Bil Browning | April 10, 2009 | 11:30 AM |Yesterday John Aravosis posted about a tragic murder/suicide in Florida. A mentally ill woman went with her 20 year old son to a shooting range, shot and killed him and then turned the gun on herself. The woman had a...Read More
Educating Young Women about Breast Cancer
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 10, 2009 | 10:00 AM |Editor's Note: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz represents Florida's 20th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Breast cancer is a disease that knows no boundaries. It strikes women from all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities, the rich and the...Read More
Cool Your Jets
Filed by John Shields | April 10, 2009 | 9:30 AM |What a gay week! There was the unanimous ruling by the the Iowa Supreme Court, making same-sex marriage legal in the Hawkeye State. Just days later, Vermont legislators weighed in on the issue, overriding the Republican governor's bigoted veto of...Read More
Spotlight 2009 is coming
Filed by Bil Browning | April 10, 2009 | 8:30 AM |Be sure to get your tickets now! Spotlight 2009: One Night, One Stage, One Reason will be Monday, April 20, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at Clowes Hall, Indianapolis. An art exhibition about "Courage and Hope," as a part of the...Read More
Fried Rice: A Failed Attempt at Subverting Sexual Racism; pt. I
Filed by Jason Tseng | April 09, 2009 | 5:30 PM |I've been called a lot of things in my life. The standard pejoratives come to mind: faggot, Cocksucker, Chink... Commie chink. Although I took that last one more of a compliment, than anything else. But easily the most painful name...Read More
From Indianapolis to Boston
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 09, 2009 | 2:30 PM |Since my last performance three years ago in Indianapolis, the city has gone through a lot of changes. They have a new state of the art airport. Nonetheless, I was still delayed out of LaGuardia. They have a new football...Read More
A happy girl travelogue & general life update...
Filed by Gina de Vries | April 09, 2009 | 1:00 PM |Hi, Projectors. Wow, I'm remiss in my blogging here, aren't I? I was doing this thing called Enacting Some Major & Positive Life Changes. It was kinda time-consuming. Sorry. I'm back now! Anyway. I'm on my annual east coast tour,...Read More
Sex on Gilligan's Island
Filed by Father Tony | April 09, 2009 | 10:30 AM |Dear Father Tony, I'm writing because yesterday a friend of ours said "They have an open relationship" when he introduced us to someone. I didn't like it. It felt weird. My "husband" and I have been together for twelve...Read More
I'd Like To Buy a Vowel
Filed by Kate Clinton | April 09, 2009 | 8:00 AM |I can speak French, but how do you speak Iowan? Can we start picking off states for marriage equality in alphabetical order?...Read More
Columbia, Missouri establishes inclusive domestic partner registry
Filed by Pam Spaulding | April 08, 2009 | 3:30 PM |With all the excitement about Vermont, we don't want to overlook this good news from the heartland that occurred... Domestic partners are now legally recognized in Columbia after a unanimous City Council vote. Elected leaders approved the new domestic partner...Read More
Marriage Recognition in DC: Business as Usual?
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 08, 2009 | 2:30 PM |Editor's Note: Guest blogger Bob Summersgill is a founding member of DC for Marriage and an advocate for gay rights for the past 20 years. Big news yesterday, after Vermont's legislature overrode the Governor's veto on marriage equality, D.C.'s Council...Read More
Happy Birthday to my baby!
Filed by Bil Browning | April 08, 2009 | 12:30 PM |Not so long ago, Jerame wasn't my baby, he was his mom's baby. He wasn't just any baby either. His parents were both very young and rebellious teens more into partying than parenting. He spent large swaths of time pawned...Read More
VICTORY! Vermont Votes for Marriage Equality!
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 07, 2009 | 5:00 PM |Editors' Note: This post comes via HRC Back Story and includes on-the-ground commentary from HRC's National Field Director Marty Rouse. BREAKING: The Vermont House voted 100-49 to override the marriage bill veto! The House vote, which followed the Senate voting...Read More
VICTORY! Vermont Votes for Marriage Equality!
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 07, 2009 | 5:00 PM |Editors' Note: This post comes via HRC Back Story and includes on-the-ground commentary from HRC's National Field Director Marty Rouse. BREAKING: The Vermont House voted 100-49 to override the marriage bill veto! The House vote, which followed the Senate voting...Read More
DC Council Votes to Recognize Marriages from Other States
Filed by Michael Crawford | April 07, 2009 | 2:30 PM |In one week the Iowa Supreme Court legalizes marriage, the Vermont legislature overrides the governor's veto to legalize marriage and now this. From today's Washington Post: The D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, on...Read More
Poll: 70 Percent of Jamaicans Oppose Any Rights For LGBT People
Filed by K Travis Ballie | April 07, 2009 | 9:00 AM |In the recent flare up about the "boycott" of Jamaica over its homophobic, transphobic policies we have seen largely progressive whites arguing with progressive whites. I don't want to state my own opinion on the debate here, because I want...Read More
Tony Dungy nominated by Obama to advisory position
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 06, 2009 | 6:00 PM |Update: Thanks to Kim in the comments. The Huffington Post reported 2 hours ago that Tony Dungy has declined the position because of time commitments. This is what I get for putting off a blog post! The rest of the...Read More
Stuck in Transition
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 06, 2009 | 3:00 PM |Editors' note: Monica F. Helms is the president of the Transgender American Veterans Association. I'm sure that many of the readers have been in a situation where they needed to make a left turn at an intersection with a left-turn...Read More
Beyond the Tipping-Point: The Modern HIV Crisis Among Gay Men
Filed by Dan O'Neill | April 06, 2009 | 9:30 AM |Editor's Note: In addition to being a Bilerico DC contributor, Dan O'Neill is chair of the HIV Prevention Working Group. HPWG is a program of The DC Center. The gay community is now experiencing a rather devastating case of déjà...Read More
Lostmissing: a public art project
Filed by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore | April 04, 2009 | 2:30 PM |You know when you have a friend who you think will always be there -- no matter what, at least you'll have that friendship, right? Lostmissing is a public art project about the loss of that relationship, a specific relationship...Read More
Children won't make you happy
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 04, 2009 | 1:00 PM |While times have definitely changed when it comes to LGBT people and parenthood, there are still a large number of us who are facing childless and non-procreative futures. While in the Old Testament that's pretty much the worst curse that...Read More
Gay Marriage and the Slippery Slope Fallacy
Filed by Paige Schilt | April 03, 2009 | 11:00 AM |A few days ago, I was hanging out in the backyard with my son, Waylon, and his friend, Mike. I was watering the garden; they were molding playdoh into fantastic, multi-colored monsters. "Mama," Waylon asked. "Do you like stripes?" Since...Read More
Surprise! Indiana Department of Workforce Development squanders funds!
Filed by Austen Crowder | April 03, 2009 | 10:00 AM |Should I put on my OMG face for this, or can we all agree that anyone with knowledge of Indiana's state programs could see this coming from a mile away? The Indiana Department of Workforce Development broke federal laws and...Read More
Surprise! Indiana Department of Workforce Development squanders funds!
Filed by Austen Crowder | April 03, 2009 | 10:00 AM |Should I put on my OMG face for this, or can we all agree that anyone with knowledge of Indiana's state programs could see this coming from a mile away? The Indiana Department of Workforce Development broke federal laws and...Read More
When Kate comes to town
Filed by Bil Browning | April 02, 2009 | 5:00 PM |Kate Clinton gets around. I'm sure you've heard that about her before, but tomorrow she's coming to Indianapolis to ply her wares. She'll be performing with special guests Troubadours of Divine Bliss at the Indiana Roof Ballroom at 8pm. It's...Read More
Kathleen Sebelius supports the public option
Filed by Alex Blaze | April 02, 2009 | 3:30 PM |Well, if you want to know why conservatives went crazy over the Sebelius nomination for Secretary of HHS, it isn't because of abortion (which she wouldn't have any power over), it's because of this: Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Barack...Read More
Some Progressive Thoughts This Morning
Filed by K Travis Ballie | April 02, 2009 | 12:00 PM |As part of my ongoing freakout about needing a job, I've been networking like its the end days lol. These are some questions from another year long political campaign program that I applied to this morning: If elected to office,...Read More
When the Rain in Spain Goes Against the Grain
Filed by Father Tony | April 02, 2009 | 11:30 AM |Dear Father Tony: My new boyfriend wants to piss on me and wants me to piss on him. That's it. Sincerely, Not Into It...Read More
Lisa Larges & The Reprecussions of Rejection
Filed by Steve Ralls | April 02, 2009 | 10:30 AM |Lisa Larges recently found herself the latest person caught in the untenable Catch-22 of too many churches: How can openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people demonstrate their commitment to their chosen path - and be a positive example to...Read More
Chronicles of a Guest Blogger, Part 2: Secrets you didn't know about the Bilerico Contributors
Filed by Guest Blogger | April 01, 2009 | 1:30 PM |Editors' note: Today is April Fool's at the Bilerico Project, and Monica Helms is joining in the fun. A few months ago, I wrote an article entitled, "Chronicles of a Guest Blogger," where I gave people a look behind the...Read More
Why I am returning to the Roman Catholic Priesthood
Filed by Father Tony | April 01, 2009 | 12:30 PM |I have an announcement to make about a decision I have reached after several months of soul-searching. I am returning to active ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. As some of you may know, I was never suspended, so my...Read More
