Living: September 2010
Unexpected Gender Role Models
Filed by Tobi Hill-Meyer | September 30, 2010 6:00 PM |I've been writing a lot recently about the gendered aspects of my childhood, trying to piece together that part of my trans narrative in a way that can be explained and understood by others. Whenever I heard messages about what...Read More
Gay student commits suicide after privacy violation
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 30, 2010 5:00 PM |There was a tragic suicide at Rutgers University recently as a student, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death from a bridge after his roommate secretly filmed him having gay sex and transmitted the movie via internet: "Roommate asked for the...Read More
Andrew Shirvell's campaign against a college student: What hatred looks like
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 30, 2010 1:00 PM |Michigan assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell, whose claim to fame is his bizarre campaign against the University of Michigan's openly gay student body president, is a perfect example of hatred. After he started getting attention for his website devoted to...Read More
Cupcakegate continues: A heartwarming moment
Filed by Bil Browning | September 30, 2010 12:00 PM |Want to see one of the most heartwarming moments from Indianapolis' "Cupcakegate" ongoing story? For those of you who haven't been keeping up, Indy's Just Cookies bakery refused to make rainbow colored cupcakes for a local college's diversity group and...Read More
The A-List - Don't Hate Them Because They're Beautiful
Filed by Father Tony | September 30, 2010 10:30 AM |Sometimes wisdom comes to us from unusual sources. You'd not expect to be impressed with anything more than the looks of the cast members of LOGO's new gay reality series The A-List premiering Monday Oct 4th 10/9c, but I attended...Read More
Greensburg Billboard: "No Bullying"
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | September 30, 2010 9:30 AM |Indianapolis's NBC affiliate reports that a billboard has been erected on a main thoroughfare in Greensburg, Indiana. Greensburg is the hometown of teenager Billy Lucas, who took his own life after years of being bullied. Sponsored by a local organization...Read More
The Long Dark Night Of Eddie Long, Pt. 1
Filed by Terrance Heath | September 30, 2010 8:30 AM |Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand Workin' in the dark against your fellow man But as sure as God made black and white What's done in the dark will be brought to the light ~...Read More
Inhousepharmacy.com stops shipping to the US
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 29, 2010 6:00 PM |I got an email from a friend this morning who's a transsexual woman who depends on Inhousepharmacy.com for her medication. This message appears on their site: Important Notice to United States Shoppers We regret to advise that this site is...Read More
Image of an Adonis: antique photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | September 29, 2010 2:30 PM |Another lovely find, this 1930 photo of a gorgeously, naturally curved man. Photographed by Guglielmo Pluschow....Read More
I Am Not A Burned Down House
Filed by Terrance Heath | September 29, 2010 12:30 PM |I am not a burned down house. Like millions of Americans, I have a “pre-existing condition.” But I am not a “burned down house”, as Mike Huckabee and those who applauded his recent statement seem, to think. When Republicans attack...Read More
Eddie Long accuser speaks out
Filed by Bil Browning | September 29, 2010 10:30 AM |Jamal Parris, one of the four men accusing homophobic minister Bishop Eddie Long of sexual coercion, spoke to FOX News about his painful past with the reverend. You can hear the pain in Parris' heart as he speaks. After the...Read More
"Dear IRS:" Taxation And Civil Disobedience
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | September 29, 2010 8:30 AM |A gifted and intelligent friend of mine has reached the end of his patience with our government's pace at giving him the full rights he so richly deserves. He wrote this letter to the IRS several days ago. Internal Revenue...Read More
A Day Of Desperation - One Year Later
Filed by Michael Hamar | September 28, 2010 6:00 PM |I have debated whether or not to write about the events of a year ago today. Given the recent gay teen suicides I decided that I would because suicidal thoughts and actions are not reserved to the teenage set. It...Read More
A Day Of Desperation - One Year Later
Filed by Michael Hamar | September 28, 2010 6:00 PM |I have debated whether or not to write about the events of a year ago today. Given the recent gay teen suicides I decided that I would because suicidal thoughts and actions are not reserved to the teenage set. It...Read More
Gay Mormons plan LGBT youth homelessness demo
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 28, 2010 4:00 PM |Here's a protest that should be repeated since it draws attention to the most under-discussed problem facing the LGBT community: Leaders of Affirmation, a support group for gay and lesbian Mormons, plan to draw attention to the plight of gay...Read More
Math is hard: Media outlets fumble with CDC data on MSM HIV rates
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 28, 2010 1:30 PM |New HIV infections and diagnoses numbers are out this week from the CDC, and media outlets are fumbling with the numbers. Here's the headline from Time, which was typical: CDC: 20% of Gay Men Are HIV-Positive, but Nearly Half Don't...Read More
3 X 3 KY CO CA
Filed by Kate Clinton | September 28, 2010 12:30 PM |Three cities in three days! You guessed it I couldn't use my bike. Gay Pride week at the University of Louisville this year highlighted the L of LGBTQQ and they asked this old L to be there. Their strong LGBT...Read More
Cupcakegate continues: A community reacts
Filed by Bil Browning | September 28, 2010 10:30 AM |I've complained about Indianapolis' lag behind a lot of other major cities in the arena of LGBT rights and the quality of the local media's reporting on our issues quite a bit. When I led the fight to pass Indy's...Read More
No Straights Allowed
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 28, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Drew Cordes is a transgender woman from Albany, N.Y. She is a 2004 graduate of Vassar College. I used to get pissed off seeing heteros while enjoying a night out at one of my friendly neighborhood...Read More
Trans teen not allowed to be Homecoming King
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 27, 2010 5:00 PM |A trans teen was voted Homecoming King in Michigan but the school took away the title because he's enrolled officially as a girl. The competition for Homecoming King is objective and rigorous and it just wouldn't be fair to the...Read More
Bishop Long Will 'Fight' Sexual Coercion Charges But Doesn't Say How
Filed by Karen Ocamb | September 27, 2010 3:00 PM |The media, antigay Christians and LGBTs around the country tuned in Sunday to hear how Bishop Eddie Long, pastor of the mega Atlanta-based New Birth Missionary Baptist Church would respond to charges in four lawsuits alleging he coerced four young...Read More
Interview: Model of Recovery
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 25, 2010 4:00 PM |Editors' Note: Robert Danforth is a Brooklyn writer for Boniface Now. His blog explores topics like homophobic bullying and male eating disorders and inspires people with a positive message. "Walking up and down the aisle of the supermarket, Richard selected...Read More
Why Marriage Equality Matters
Filed by Gloria Nieto | September 24, 2010 10:00 AM |Last month I was in the hospital, twice within a 10 day period. No fun to say the least. While one could be considered life-threatening the cumulative effect was to feel completely helpless. I don't believe that is over yet....Read More
What Asexuals Want
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 24, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Sara Beth Brooks recently completed the Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is pursuing a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and lives in Sacramento, CA. Sara...Read More
September Is The Cruellest Month
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | September 23, 2010 5:00 PM |SEPTEMBER is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers. --The Waste...Read More
Recognizing National Gay Men's HIV Awareness Day - Six Things for Gays to Know About HIV/AIDS
Filed by Dan O'Neill | September 23, 2010 1:00 PM |Monday, September 27, 2010 marks National Gay Men's HIV Awareness Day, a new addition to the growing list of CDC-sponsored efforts that draw attention to the terrible toll this disease continues to have on high-risk communities. Sadly, I fear this...Read More
When suffering has meaning
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 23, 2010 12:00 PM |Two weeks ago I posted on the "boring life" myth in LGBT activism. I've noticed it for years - we say something along the lines of "Our lives are actually really boring. We go to work, mow the lawn, wash...Read More
Next Stop: Minnesota
Filed by Father Tony | September 23, 2010 10:30 AM |Have you learned the pattern? Things percolate in a particular state where homophobes hatch strategies equal in strength to those in the pro-equality camps. Money flows in from out of state, and sometimes we win and sometimes they win. Meanwhile,...Read More
Redefining Intimacy
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 23, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Sara Beth Brooks recently completed the Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is pursuing a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and lives in Sacramento, CA. Sara...Read More
Dan Savage Tells Bullied Kids "It Gets Better"
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | September 22, 2010 6:00 PM |When Dan Savage learned the story of Billy Lucas from a reader, he wished he'd had five minutes with Billy to tell him "it gets better." Dan went on: "But gay adults aren't allowed to talk to these kids. Schools...Read More
Rebound: Waiting to Date After a Break-Up
Filed by Michele O'Mara | September 22, 2010 4:00 PM |My ex and I were together 13 years and we just broke up last month. I have met someone new and while I'm not in love, I am enjoying the distraction and want to continue seeing her. My friends...Read More
Nonviolence: It's more than not hitting people
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 22, 2010 11:30 AM |I posted Monday and Tuesday on Martin Luther King's Stride Toward Freedom, one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. Have you gotten a copy? Even if you think my posts on the subject have been garbage, King's book...Read More
The X Factor
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 22, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Sara Beth Brooks recently completed the Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is pursuing a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and lives in Sacramento, CA. Sara...Read More
Becoming Queer
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 21, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Sara Beth Brooks recently completed the Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is pursuing a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and lives in Sacramento, CA. Sara...Read More
You Heard It Here First
Filed by D Gregory Smith | September 20, 2010 6:00 PM |It took almost three months, but the story about the hateful Montana GOP platform plank seeking the criminalization of gays has gone national. The Associated Press ran a story over the weekend that was picked up by The Boston Globe,...Read More
Your WTF moment of the day
Filed by Bil Browning | September 20, 2010 4:00 PM |After a male student decided to run for Homecoming Queen at David Crockett High School in Jonesborough, Tennessee, students and parents held a prayer vigil outside of the school. The local yokels reaction would be laughable if it weren't for...Read More
Language, Reality, and my Trans Girlhood
Filed by Tobi Hill-Meyer | September 20, 2010 1:00 PM |While working at COLAGE's Family Week in Provincetown earlier this month - a week long gathering for LGBTQ-headed families with programming for 200+ youth who have LGBTQ parents - someone who was working with the younger group asked how to...Read More
Asexuality exists
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 20, 2010 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Sara Beth Brooks recently completed the Leadership, Organizing, and Action: Leading Change program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is pursuing a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and lives in Sacramento, CA. Sara...Read More
My Life Again in New York
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | September 19, 2010 2:30 PM |I moved back to New York two weeks ago after being away for many years. I lived here through most of the 80s and 90s. I left in 1998, and in the last 12 years I've lived in San Francisco,...Read More
Running Out of Air
Filed by Terrance Heath | September 18, 2010 12:00 PM |I feel sometimes like I’m running out of air: blogging. Looking at my output over the last few weeks, it would seem like I’m running out of stuff to write about. (And look at my blog statistics, and the over...Read More
By the time you read this message, I'll be out of the country
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 17, 2010 9:30 AM |I'll be gone all next week in Morocco. It's 98.6 degrees there today... maybe we should have bought tickets for a December trip. It'll be interesting to be in a Muslim country after the explosion of Islamophobia in the US...Read More
NMAC's joyful HIV/AIDS Awareness video
Filed by Mark S. King | September 16, 2010 5:00 PM |In a new segment last week, Oprah Winfrey revisited a town that shunned an HIV positive man for using the public pool in 1987. The episode haunts me to this day. Thank goodness for the healing balm of the National...Read More
No one's homophobic
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 16, 2010 3:00 PM |If it wasn't obvious before, we're now fully in the era where we just can't assume that an action is homophobic no matter what its effects or intentions are unless the people performing it say the word "faggot." But this...Read More
Catholics For Equality Makes A Smart Start
Filed by Father Tony | September 16, 2010 10:30 AM |On Tuesday, September 14th, Catholics For Equality was launched after nine months of preparation. As one of the founders, I am satisfied with the initial reactions. I'd like to tell you what to expect from this fledgling organization and I'd...Read More
Zestra Fiesta!
Filed by Kate Clinton | September 16, 2010 8:00 AM |Yes, it's true. It's time for me to pull up stakes from Provincetown and head back to New York City (or as we call it, the office)....Read More
Baptist church breaks away because it likes LGBT people
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 15, 2010 11:30 AM |Here's an interesting reversal. Instead of homophobic churches breaking away from pro-gay governing bodies, as we usually read about, this church is accepting of queer people and decided to leave the state Baptist organization: Brent Beasley, Broadway's pastor, called the...Read More
Bullied Young Indiana Teen Takes His Own Life
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | September 15, 2010 8:30 AM |In a heartbreaking irony of circumstance, 15-year-old Billy Lucas killed himself during National Suicide Prevention Week. Billy was the victim of merciless bullying. While he never self-identified as gay, he was cruelly harassed for being different, and many of the...Read More
New study on LGBTQ students in school
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 14, 2010 2:30 PM |GLSEN has a 10-year study out on LGBT students and safety at school: The 2009 survey of 7,261 middle and high school students found that at school nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students experienced harassment at school in the...Read More
Lesbians' home burned to the ground
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 13, 2010 6:00 PM |A lesbian couple's home was burned down in Tennessee: Carol Ann Stutte and her partner, Laura Stutte, are afraid to return alone to what is left of their Vonore home in Monroe County. After being victims of an arson and...Read More
In the trenches fighting for ADAP funding
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | September 12, 2010 2:30 PM |Over the past several months while our nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Programs are experiencing a funding crisis, I am continually amazed when I meet with members of Congress and they are unaware that more than 3,500 people are on a...Read More
Radical acts of queer love: some lessons from September 11th
Filed by Susan Raffo | September 11, 2010 4:00 PM |I had a crush on her for three years before anything happened. It was that gentle kind of crush - the tingly feeling of attraction that stayed pretty uncomplicated even while it was always there when we saw each other....Read More
When the ship goes down
Filed by Phil Reese | September 11, 2010 2:00 PM |There's nothing worse than a blogger without a computer. Its like being a sailor with no ship. That's exactly what I was for about nine hours yesterday. Philerico was almost cut short before its time when, while preparing for tomorrow's...Read More
9-11 Remembered: A Flight Attendant's Story
Filed by Waymon Hudson | September 11, 2010 12:00 PM |Author's Note: I was asked to repost my first hand recollection of September 11th again this year. I think it's important that we remember what happened and how we came together as individuals and as a nation, especially in light...Read More
Orlando hosts the 2010 United States Conference on AIDS
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | September 10, 2010 9:30 AM |Once again I'm finding myself back in my closet trying to decide what to pack in my suitcase for the 2010 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) hosted in Orlando, Florida from Sunday, September 12 to Wednesday, September 15, 2010....Read More
Sex while HIV Positive: The New Criminals
Filed by Mark S. King | September 09, 2010 4:00 PM |Right now, an HIV positive man is in a Texas prison, serving a 35 year sentence for spitting on someone. In Michigan, an HIV positive man was charged for not disclosing his status under a bio-terrorism statute. And just weeks...Read More
Why Johnny can't think critically
Filed by Rev Irene Monroe | September 09, 2010 2:00 PM |School is now back in session, and our children's minds are impressionable vessels. We trust their teachers to take precious care of them. But can we? We have learned over the years "Why Johnny can't read," "Why Johnny can't write,"...Read More
Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Alex Sink commits to develop HIV/AIDS strategy
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | September 09, 2010 1:00 PM |In Florida, statewide, the LGBT community is engaging more and more in the political process to ensure candidates for public office are held accountable to represent the unique needs of marginalized and underserved communities when elected. As a gay man...Read More
Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Alex Sink commits to develop HIV/AIDS strategy
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | September 09, 2010 1:00 PM |In Florida, statewide, the LGBT community is engaging more and more in the political process to ensure candidates for public office are held accountable to represent the unique needs of marginalized and underserved communities when elected. As a gay man...Read More
The Reconstruction of Rabbi Kitty
Filed by Father Tony | September 09, 2010 10:30 AM |Rabbi Noah Kitty, Executive Director of Congregation Etz Chaim in located in Wilton Manors, Florida, calmly and clearly explains away many erroneous suppositions about the Jewish faith that might make a person hesitant about joining this mostly LGBTQ synagogue. "When...Read More
The Jesus I've Come to Know
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 08, 2010 12:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Rev. Rick Elliott has been a minister since June 1973 and has frequently handled the overflow of weddings from a university chapel. He has received an M/Div from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and did five-sixths of...Read More
Divided by Law
Filed by Steve Ralls | September 08, 2010 11:30 AM |Roi Whaley probably never imagined the United States government would play a role in ripping his family apart. The Gulfport, Mississippi resident has deep roots along America's Gulf Coast. He worked, for 17 years, at one of Gulfport's best-known casinos....Read More
2010, and book-burning is still happening
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 08, 2010 10:30 AM |By now you're probably read that pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville, Florida, plans to hold a Quran burning day in his church in order to protest the fact that Islam exists. And that's not where the idiocy ends in this...Read More
Toward Life
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | September 07, 2010 7:00 PM |It is National Suicide Prevention Week. A terrible statistic reveals that a disproportionately high percentage of suicide attempts are by LGBT youth. More than 5 million people in the U.S. have been directly affected by suicide. An online friend of...Read More
The Cowardly Lions That Refuse To Roar
Filed by D Gregory Smith | September 07, 2010 5:00 PM |Wow. It's not even Halloween and Montana's political leaders are scared shitless. Our political leadership has been strangely silent on the subject of the recently discovered homophobic/murderous rants by a leader and members of the Montana Tea Party. Dennis Rehberg,...Read More
Focus on the Family goes to China
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 07, 2010 11:30 AM |America's still exporting something. The fact that it's not even a quality product, unable to perform its ostensible function, makes it all the more surprising that the Chinese are buying it from us: In Yunnan schools this year, teachers are...Read More
Nerd Masculinity
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | September 07, 2010 10:30 AM |I'm teaching a class this semester on Gender, Work and Family. My class of thirty-one bright-eyed bushy-tailed students and I talked about nerd masculinity, also the subject of the first article in the reader. It's called "Being the 'Go-To Guy':...Read More
Labor Day Weekend Five Years Ago - Katrina Aftermath
Filed by Michael Hamar | September 07, 2010 9:30 AM |The following is largely a repost of a post I did on my personal blog, Michael-in-Norfolk, over three years ago that described the efforts of my former partner and I in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation to...Read More
Holiday Open Thread: End of Summer
Filed by Bil Browning | September 06, 2010 7:00 AM |It's Labor Day and the Bilerico team is taking the day off to enjoy the official end of summer. The floor is yours - feel free to blogwhore your own posts, link us to anything you've found interesting lately, or...Read More
Dumpster Nirvana
Filed by Sara Whitman | September 05, 2010 4:00 PM |For those of you who have followed my writing for a long time, you will know this is a day that will be marked in my personal history forever. Jeanine has agreed to let me have a dumpster. Now, Miss...Read More
The dramatic effects of meds
Filed by Alex Blaze | September 04, 2010 12:00 PM |Here's an ad that shows the dramatic effect of HIV/AIDS medication with a woman who agreed to be filmed for 90 days. And to think that funding for this is on the chopping block in several states in the name...Read More
Youth, Meth and Going Viral
Filed by Guest Blogger | September 04, 2010 10:00 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Leslie Robinson hails from New England, lives in Seattle and is shacked up with a Southerner. Check out more of Leslie's humor columns at generalgayety.com "In my brief moments of clarity I knew my life was...Read More
A Day with HIV in America
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 03, 2010 11:00 AM |What does it mean to live with HIV? That's the question Positively Aware magazine wants you to answer on September 21. The magazine is creating an online photo essay about living with HIV in America. Whether you're HIV positive or...Read More
A Day with HIV in America
Filed by Michael Crawford | September 03, 2010 11:00 AM |What does it mean to live with HIV? That's the question Positively Aware magazine wants you to answer on September 21. The magazine is creating an online photo essay about living with HIV in America. Whether you're HIV positive or...Read More
Montana Tea Party Advocates "Hanging Fruits"
Filed by D Gregory Smith | September 03, 2010 9:30 AM |Is it safe to be gay under the Big Sky? Fuck no. Tim Ravndal, a Montana loud-mouthed Right-wing Tea Party darling hosts a conversation on his Facebook page where he comments on an article by the Billings Gazette on the...Read More
I am the man my father built
Filed by Mark S. King | September 02, 2010 5:00 PM |Never in my short life had I been camping. I hated the grit of dirt and leaves, bugs, peeing outdoors, and the looming prospect of sleeping amongst it all. The woods looked like a life-sized version of the terrarium for...Read More
Parallels Between Priestly Celibacy and Afghanistan's "Dancing Boy"
Filed by Michael Hamar | September 02, 2010 4:00 PM |Having been raised Roman Catholic, I grew up well versed in the Catholic Church's obsession with all things sexual, and the sometimes less than subtle message that women were temptresses looking to corrupt men and/or dirty. After all, Eve was...Read More
Happy Birthday to Phil!
Filed by Bil Browning | September 02, 2010 12:00 PM |Today is contributor Phil Reese's birthday. Yes, his birthday is 90210 this year. I'm lucky enough to be in DC with Phil as he celebrates. National Stonewall Democrats board member Chris Massicotte's birthday is today too and they're throwing a...Read More
An open letter to a Wabash alum
Filed by Austen Crowder | September 01, 2010 1:30 PM |Sometimes the best way to stay in the closet is to stand in the shadows of those who came out. Least, that's how it worked for you while attending an all-male college. You lived with the theater group, worked with...Read More
New Gay Street Beat Podcast (Featuring Me!) Talks the New Documentary "Bullied", LGBT Youth, Media, & More
Filed by Waymon Hudson | September 01, 2010 10:30 AM |I was back on the new LGBT podcast "Gay Street Beat" this week for their latest edition and wanted to share it with all of you! Be sure to download it free on iTunes or listen to it on the...Read More
The Fierce Urgency of Now: Queers Must Challenge Islamaphobia
Filed by Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz | September 01, 2010 8:30 AM |My great-grandfather was one of the founders of the mosque in Quincy, Massachusetts. My grandfather, his son, was also a practicing Muslim. Although I was raised as a Jew, I have not forgotten the fact that many members of my...Read More
