Living: May 2011
An Open Letter to Employers
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 31, 2011 9:00 PM |Guest blogger Jessica Bussert, the mother of Betsie Gallardo, has experienced incredible barriers to employment in Indiana. Here, she pleads for employers to give her - and other transgender people - a chance. Read More
Eddie Long Punks Out
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 31, 2011 6:00 PM |Last September, megachurch preacher Bishop Eddie Long stood before his congregation a week after gay sex allegations surfaced between him and four teenage boys and told members he was innocent, but Long chose not to fight in court.Read More
School Elects LGBT Prom Royalty
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 31, 2011 5:00 PM |If the 90's was the decade of the LGBT teens in school, then the 2000's were the decade where the idea that teenagers had minds, identities, and sexualities of their own was normalized.Read More
Yesteryear's Military Fantasy: Vintage Postcard
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 31, 2011 4:00 PM |This fantasy could have been found at certain private military fetish parties yesterday.Read More
An Extraordinary LGBT Community Possible
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 31, 2011 1:30 PM |What if the LGBT community stood for the context of a world of love and respect for all? Read More
Ku Klux Klan Protests the Westboro Baptist Church
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 31, 2011 12:30 PM |Hating the WBC no longer means anything at all any more. They are plainly the most generally despised people in the country.Read More
AIDS at 30: Birthdays & Dead Friends
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 31, 2011 10:15 AM |Birthdays are so spiritually exhausting: sometimes a constant heartache is too much to bear. But then AIDS is everywhere I am by choice. Because I want to remember. My dead friends remind me how much I have loved.Read More
Memorial Day Open Thread
Filed by Bil Browning | May 30, 2011 10:15 AM |The question of the day: Have you served in the military? If so, which branch and rank? Were you dismissed because of DADT?Read More
Comment of the Week: Capitalist Piggy on HIV-Neg
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 29, 2011 6:00 PM |What say you, Projectors? Are HIV-negative men worthy of praise as brave, or not? Does it take courage to maintain an HIV-negative status, or not? Read More
A Better Life: Why I'm Still Not Moving To Canada
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 29, 2011 12:00 PM |Remember back in 2004, when Dubya won re-election and liberals started threatening to move to Canada? Well, maybe I should have considered it. Because according to OECD's Better Life Index, Canada is where I belong.Read More
Take Action: Dan Choi Arrested in Moscow
Filed by Dan O'Neill | May 28, 2011 5:30 PM |Dan Choi was arrested by Russian authorities earlier today along with several dozen other LGBT-rights activists who clashed with both Moscow police and religious/neo-Nazi opponents after attempting to proceed with a peaceful Pride celebration that inevitably morphed into yet another violent protest.Read More
Insurance Company Blames Lesbian Couple for Fire
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 28, 2011 4:00 PM |A lesbian couple in Tennessee who sued a neighbor they suspect burned down their home and defaced it with anti-gay slurs back in September 2010 are now facing a law suit of their own. Read More
NYC Hospitals Strive for 'Cultural Competency'
Filed by Adam Polaski | May 28, 2011 9:00 AM |A new initiative in the New York City hospital system seeks to eliminate barriers to health care for LGBT individuals, the first program of its kind in the country. Read More
IL: Catholic Church Picks Discrimination Over Charity
Filed by Waymon Hudson | May 27, 2011 4:00 PM |Catholic Charities in Rockford, Illinois have decided that rather than abide with the new civil unions law going into effect in Illinois on June 1st, they'll end all the adoption and foster care services they provide.Read More
Nikki Araguz Arrested on Theft Charges
Filed by Bil Browning | May 27, 2011 3:00 PM |A Texas court ruled this week to invalidate the marriage between Thomas Araguz, a firefighter killed in the line of duty, and Nikki Araguz, a transexual woman. Now Ms. Araguz has been arrested in connection with the theft of a Rolex watch.Read More
Why You Should Do A Rural Pride Event This Year
Filed by D Gregory Smith | May 27, 2011 2:30 PM |We want to know you have our backs when we're working to educate legislators and local politicians and school boards and businesses. We want to know that it's okay to stay here, even when it's hard.Read More
Donor Duet, Part IV
Filed by Paige Schilt | May 27, 2011 12:00 PM |The danger of any kind of reunion is finding out that you're just not that relevant to people's lives.Read More
Parents Keep Baby's Sex Assignment Unannounced
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 27, 2011 9:00 AM |A Toronto couple has decided not to announce the sex assignment of their baby in an effort to give their child the freedom to choose what they want to be on their own.Read More
Hotel Silver Spring: Always a Repeat Performance
Filed by Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz | May 27, 2011 8:00 AM |Ten years ago my partner and I moved to Silver Spring MD. We were intentional about choosing a neighborhood that was multi-racial, multi-generational, mixed class and was not a gentrified gayborhood. We landed in our street and the story simply begins there.Read More
Calling HIV-Negative Men: This is Your Time
Filed by Mark S. King | May 26, 2011 8:00 PM |The positive result was traumatic, no doubt about it, and I soldiered on during some awfully frightening times. But I have a significant psychological advantage over my HIV negative friends: I only took that damn test once.Read More
Going Camping?
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 26, 2011 6:00 PM |As you have probably noticed, the Rapture promised by Mr. Camping & Co. did not occur. He used the opportunity of the coming demise of the world to proclaim that it was because God was mad about the broadening acceptance of the GLBTQ reality. Basically, he blamed the end of the world on us.Read More
Donor Duet, Part III
Filed by Paige Schilt | May 26, 2011 5:00 PM |Surfside Beach is connected to the mainland by a string of chemical plants. We were traversing this no-man's-land because Katy had a mission. She had found an old picture of Brian onstage, naked except for a cigarette, a fedora, and a strategically placed guitar.Read More
Capital Pride Hero: Well, I Do Love a Good Parade
Filed by Bil Browning | May 26, 2011 4:00 PM |DC's pride organization has announced their list of Capital Pride Heroes for this year and, after only nine months in the city, I was shocked to find out I got picked as one of them!Read More
Catholic Priests: The Devil Made Them Do It
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 25, 2011 4:00 PM |I was somewhat surprised at the findings about gay priests. Not so much that they found no evidence that gay priests were more likely to abuse minors than straight priests, but the implications of the drop off in abuse as the number of gay priests went up.Read More
MCC Church in Tornado-Devastated Joplin Wiped Out
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 25, 2011 2:30 PM |The equality group PROMO in Missouri reports that the LGBT community has been severely impacted by the devastating tornado that hit on Sunday night - including the destruction of the Spirit of Christ MCC Church in JoplinRead More
Possible Hate Crime Investigated in Portland
Filed by Adam Polaski | May 25, 2011 1:00 PM |Two men say they were attacked near the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland by a group of men who saw them holding hands.Read More
Donor Duet, Part II
Filed by Paige Schilt | May 25, 2011 12:00 PM |The continuing story of how our sperm donor charmed our son.Read More
Was My Father Evil?
Filed by Diane Silver | May 25, 2011 10:00 AM |In my quest to understand goodness, I find myself confronted with an important discussion about which category - good or evil - my father fell into. Read More
The High Cost of Being HIV-Positive
Filed by Anthony Carter | May 25, 2011 8:00 AM |Besides being physically and emotionally taxing, an HIV-positive life can be an expensive ordeal.Read More
Donor Duet, Part I
Filed by Paige Schilt | May 24, 2011 2:00 PM |Two days before our sperm donor was due to arrive in Texas, my wife walked in the door with a bulging sack of secondhand toys. "Waylon already has too many toys," I said, shaking my head.Read More
Exposing the Prevalence of Rape in the U.S. Prison System
Filed by Patricia Nell Warren | May 24, 2011 12:00 PM |Steve Mason's coming out in a California state prison is one of the bravest things I've heard of. He could be putting his 2015 release in jeopardy and could suffer great physical, emotional, spiritual and mental harm. Read More
Lisa Lampanelli and the Westboro Baptist Church
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 23, 2011 3:00 PM |Comedian Lisa Lampanelli vowed to donate $1000 to the Gay Men's Health Crisis in the names of every Westboro Baptist Church protestor who showed up to her Topeka, KA show.Read More
High Schools Teach LGBT Studies Classes
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 23, 2011 2:00 PM |There is an appropriate discussion to be had whenever something as fluid as queer culture and something as big as queer history are taught about curriculum.Read More
Nothing Like a Hot Shower: Vintage Hunks
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 23, 2011 9:30 AM |Something about the way they're leaning their heads in and the gentle touch of the taller bearded man, makes this one of the hottest vintage erotic photos I've seen. This is ca. 1970s, from a private stash of porn sold...Read More
Love Will Not Keep You HIV-Negative
Filed by Anthony Carter | May 23, 2011 8:30 AM |Most of the HIV positive people I know became infected in the course of a relationship. After talking with a good friend from overseas, I was informed of this incredible theory. My brilliant ally and I discussed at length the...Read More
Lube Safety for Rectal Use
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 22, 2011 4:00 PM |The International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA) recently released a study examining the effect of lubricants on rectal tissue. They ran an internet-based survey in six languages, receiving 8,945 responses highlighting behaviors and attitudes around anal intercourse, condom use, lube use,...Read More
Can I Blame Gay Culture for my Drug Addiction, Please?
Filed by Mark S. King | May 22, 2011 2:30 PM |After a lifetime of sporadic, recreational drug use, I became a full-blown crystal meth addict ten years ago, and then eventually got clean and sober in January of 2009. But why would I, or anyone as engaged in life as...Read More
My Bilerico, Internet Home Sweet Home
Filed by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | May 21, 2011 2:00 PM |Waking slowly, very late, this Friday morning as I write this. I saw Bil and Jerame last night in NYC, and it was a late night. Usually up bright and early, I crawl to find desperate coffee at noon. I...Read More
Keith Boykin Is Looking for Submissions for New Book
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 21, 2011 12:00 PM |Keith Boykin sent us an email the other day asking us to spread the word that he's looking for submissions for a book: Their message, It Gets Better, turned into a popular movement, inspiring thousands of user-created videos on the...Read More
How Radical Christianity Destroyed My Traditional Family
Filed by Mercedes Allen | May 20, 2011 8:30 AM |I'll be live-tweeting the #rapture this Saturday. Or for part of the day, at least. We'll also have a house to clean, because hey, life goes on. I do want to make clear, though, that I'm not mocking all Christians...Read More
Bilerico Badger Grad 2011
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 19, 2011 7:00 PM |Hey Projectors! I wanted you to know that on Sunday I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a J.B.A. in Strategic Communications and certificates in African Studies, LGBT Studies, and Gender and Women's Studies (check out the extra rainbow...Read More
Action Against Corrective Rape in South Africa
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 19, 2011 3:00 PM |Protesters gathered outside of Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday to put pressure on the South African government to directly address lesbian "corrective rape" - the idea that rape will 'fix' a woman's lesbianism, or 'show her what...Read More
Kye Allums to Leave College Basketball
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 19, 2011 9:30 AM |Kye Allums, the trans man who made headlines last year when he announced his transition but decided to put off physical transition and continue playing college women's basketball to keep his scholarship, has quit the basketball team his senior year:...Read More
10 Questions for NOM
Filed by Bil Browning | May 18, 2011 6:00 PM |Friend of the site and Queerty's new editor, Daniel Villareal, was a little peeved to find one of his posts on the National Organization for Marriage's website. His article, "Can We Please Just Start Admitting That We Do Actually Want...Read More
Toward a Cure for HIV
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 18, 2011 3:00 PM |Bay Area Doctors are continuing to monitor the progress of Timothy Ray Brown, known as "The Berlin Patient" - said to be the first man 'cured' of HIV. Since our last post on this issue, Brown's white blood cells have...Read More
A Kiss to Build a Dream On: Vintage Photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 18, 2011 2:30 PM |I don't know if they were brothers, best friends, or lovers, but these (ca. 1940s?) men certainly loved each other. And that's what it's all about....Read More
New Report on Catholic Child Molestation Blames Stress, Not Gays
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 18, 2011 1:30 PM |A new, big report is out from John Jay College on the Catholic child abuse crises, looking specifically for causes. The report is cost almost two million dollars, half of which was paid by the Catholic Bishops but another chunk...Read More
The Patriarchy Is So Dada
Filed by Kate Clinton | May 18, 2011 8:30 AM |Dominique Strauss-Kahn, he of the Madoff mane, alleged rapist and head of the International Monetary Fund - talk about branding! - is not too big to jail. Tant pis. Wait, wait, there's more. Arnold reveals he fathered a child ten...Read More
MTV: Are You Kidding Me?
Filed by Sara Whitman | May 17, 2011 6:00 PM |Classes ended on the 6th and I took off for Downeast Maine. It was beautiful, not that cold, and very restful. While I was gone, young son Ben was busy. He applied to be on an MTV show about kids...Read More
I Found Freedom in Prison (No, I Don't Mean Jesus)
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 17, 2011 5:00 PM |Editors' note: Steve Mason is a 26-year-old California state inmate, librarian, and gay liberation activist who will be released in early 2015. When he is not engaged in pink politics he can be found reading Stephen King books, drawing, listening...Read More
Bullying Linked to Increased Suicide Risk, HIV Infection
Filed by D Gregory Smith | May 17, 2011 3:30 PM |A new study in The Journal Of School Health gives another reason to protect school-age LGBT's from bullying and threats of violence. This is the first study to examine school victimization in adolescence in relation to physical and mental health...Read More
Lesbian Outed at School for Holding Hands with Girlfriend
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 17, 2011 1:30 PM |Two lesbian students in Pompano Beach, Florida, were told repeatedly by the principal that they weren't allowed to hold hands on campus, something that they kept on doing because they saw that straight students were allowed to hold hands. At...Read More
McDonalds Attackers Indicted on Hate Crimes Charges
Filed by Bil Browning | May 17, 2011 9:30 AM |Teonna Brown, one of the two women seen attacking a transgender woman in a Baltimore McDonalds, will be facing serious legal charges after a grand jury indictment Monday. Equality Maryland sent over a statement shortly after the grand jury's decision...Read More
Uncensored: The Collective History of HIV/AIDS
Filed by Michael Emanuel Rajner | May 16, 2011 7:00 PM |This past March, I shared a video message from Butch McKay on the annual Positive Living Conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida hosted by the the Okaloosa AIDS Support & Informational Services, Inc. (OASIS). Each year, this conference serves as...Read More
Rancho Bilerico: Going Back to Indy (for the weekend)
Filed by Bil Browning | May 16, 2011 6:00 PM |Jerame and I will be returning to Indianapolis this weekend to attend an Indiana Stonewall Democrats function and to move the last bit of our stuff out of the house/garage we own there. Yes, finally, after 9 months of living...Read More
A Straightforward (But Complex) Loving Life
Filed by E. Winter Tashlin | May 16, 2011 5:00 PM |I have been sitting in front of my blank computer screen for a solid ten minutes now trying to figure out exactly how to begin this post. No matter how hard I reach for greater eloquence or depth, I keep...Read More
Caption This: Tastes Like Homos
Filed by Bil Browning | May 15, 2011 5:30 PM |Presented without commentary. Hat tip to OMGBlog....Read More
A Thank You Note to Projectors
Filed by Bil Browning | May 15, 2011 10:00 AM |This excellent thank you note hit my inbox recently. It's meant for you guys. Remember Chris Mosier, the trans athlete competing for a sponsorship from an athletics company? Bil, I wanted to follow up with you and say thank you...Read More
The Full Monty: My Life as a Nudist
Filed by Jesse Monteagudo | May 14, 2011 12:00 PM |"The Full Monty" is a British slang phrase that means "the whole lot." It also refers to a movie and Broadway musical about unemployed English factory workers who become strippers in order to make ends meet. To a lot of...Read More
Stalker Countersues Univ of Michigan Student Body President
Filed by Bil Browning | May 13, 2011 4:00 PM |Remember Andrew Shirvell, the former Michigan Assistant Attorney General fired for harassing Chris Armstrong, the student body president of the University of Michigan? The stalker has countersued Armstrong now claiming he's the victim of "a homosexual activist agenda." Because, you...Read More
Religion Does Not Equal Morality
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 13, 2011 2:00 PM |PZ Meyers makes an excellent point about this horrific story. A young girl was found caged and attempting to eat herself in a mobile home in Virginia, and cops say her parents are responsible. The malnourished girl, believed to be...Read More
HIV Treatment Is a Form of HIV Prevention
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 13, 2011 1:00 PM |As more and more states look into cutting HIV treatment assistance programs to balance their budgets, perhaps here's something for them to consider: HIV carriers who start treatment before the virus can ravage their immune systems are 96 per cent...Read More
Hot and Sweaty Hunks: Vintage Photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 13, 2011 10:30 AM |A couple of very sweaty guys doing... what? Is that body-building or punishment? (I know, what's the difference, right?) "Jack Ranch" may refer to an historic cattle ranch in Cholame, California, a town which is not as well known for...Read More
Teachers Have Sex Too
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 13, 2011 9:30 AM |Tracey Clark-Flory at Salon rounds up a few recent stories about teachers are getting criticism and losing their jobs for their off-the-job sexual activity: At no point was Buranich, who writes erotica as Judy Mays, in danger of losing her...Read More
The Limits of Full Inclusion
Filed by Rev. Emily C. Heath | May 12, 2011 6:00 PM |A few weeks ago I wrote in anticipation of the Presbyterian vote regarding LGBT clergy. Tuesday the final needed vote came in, and an amendment was passed that allowed for the possibility of LGBT ordination in some areas. It does...Read More
San Francisco Bans Yellow Pages
Filed by Bil Browning | May 11, 2011 4:00 PM |A breathless and hyperbolic press release landed in my inbox yesterday afternoon after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to ban Yellow Pages from the city. The Local Search Association, described as "the largest trade organization of print, digital,...Read More
Jill Weiss's Birthday: A Guessing Game
Filed by Bil Browning | May 11, 2011 1:30 PM |Today is Dr. Jillian Weiss's birthday and it's an important milestone in her young life. I won't tell you how old she is now (you never tell a lady's age!), but I will give you a few clues as you...Read More
Presbyterian Church Approves Ordination Amendment for Gay Clergy
Filed by Betty Greene Salwak | May 11, 2011 8:30 AM |After 33 years of proposals, voting, and defeat, on May 10 the PCUSA approved Ordination Amendment 10-A, which allows individual churches and presbyteries to ordain gay clergy and lay leaders if they so choose. Passed by a simple majority of...Read More
The Judge's Sweet Smelling Jockstrap
Filed by Bil Browning | May 10, 2011 6:30 PM |File this under "I'm sure he meant well." Waupaca, Wisconsin Judge Philip Kirk presided over the trial of 71 year old former school bus driver Delton Gorges on charges of child molestation. When Gorges submitted paperwork that included a description...Read More
Texas A&M Conservatives Preparing to Replace Jerry Falwell
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 10, 2011 5:30 PM |These campus conservatives down at Texas A&M (the same school that voted to defund the LGBT Campus Center) seem pretty different from those who were around when I was in college. The ones I went to college with mostly just...Read More
Supposedly Progressive Christian Sojourners Rejects LGBT Ad
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 09, 2011 4:00 PM |Perhaps you've seen Rev. Jim Wallis on TV - he's a self-described Christian "public theologian." But he's also an influential one as a best-selling author and the president and CEO of what heretofore has been considered the progressive Sojourners Social...Read More
UCLA Study of California: Gay, Bisexual Men Have More Cancer
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 09, 2011 2:00 PM |The UCLA's California Health Interview Study (CHIS) shows that gay and bisexual men are twice as likely as straight men to have been diagnosed with cancer: The research, from California, found that gay men were almost twice as likely as...Read More
Words Matter
Filed by Bil Browning | May 09, 2011 10:00 AM |Friend of the site, Kim Pearson, posted this short video to her Facebook wall on Saturday morning. While only a couple of minutes long it, the lesson it teaches should be remembered for a lifetime. Thanks for giving this blogger,...Read More
Freethinking 1940s: Queer Studies
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 09, 2011 9:30 AM |A fascinating eBay find, these three pamphlets (known as "blue books") from E. Haldeman-Julius, a socialist reformer and atheist who published several radical works on sexuality by freethinkers in the 1940s....Read More
In My Shoes: A Mothers' Day Short Film
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 08, 2011 2:30 PM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Beth Teper is the Executive Director of COLAGE. She also enjoys running, gardening, cooking, watching movies with her honey. I grew up with a lesbian mom at a time when shows like Modern Family and GLEE...Read More
How Mom Handles HIV in the Family
Filed by Mark S. King | May 08, 2011 10:00 AM |God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers. --Jewish Proverb My mother raised six children, topping off this great achievement with yours truly. She held us all together during the years Dad flew B-52's for months on end, and...Read More
Men With Rounded Corners: The Loren Olson Story
Filed by Father Tony | May 07, 2011 12:00 PM |When Dr. Loren Olson called to talk about his autobiographical new book Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight, a Psychiatrist's Own Story, he had just received a letter from his ex-wife who had just finished reading the book. Because...Read More
The Cheerful Miss Nikki Adams
Filed by Father Tony | May 06, 2011 4:00 PM |On Sunday, April 3rd, in honor of her work at Fort Lauderdale's Broward House, the often crowned Nikki Adams was named a "Community Star of the Year" at the Pride Center's annual "Stars of the Rainbow" awards ceremony. A new...Read More
Brazil's High Court OKs Civil Unions
Filed by Bil Browning | May 06, 2011 2:00 PM |In a 10-0 ruling, Brazil's highest court has approved same-sex relationship recognition by ruling in favor of civil unions. One justice abstained from voting. Brazil's high court ruled that same-sex civil unions must be recognized, a decision welcomed as a...Read More
The Next Time You Call Someone a Faggot
Filed by Matt Comer | May 06, 2011 11:00 AM |I don't think I could have imagined last fall just how challenging and, at times, frustrating returning to school would be once I actually set foot in class this January. After nearly four years of absence, I decided last fall...Read More
Lady in Pearls: Vintage Photo
Filed by Gloria Brame, Ph.D. | May 06, 2011 10:30 AM |I love this vintage image and the expression on her beautiful face. Her lips are amazing. The photo looks like it might be from the 1950s, but since there was no information to accompany it, I'm left wondering if she...Read More
Surpassing Borders: Living in the Borderlands
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 06, 2011 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Brett Stockdill is a queer, HIV positive activist, teacher and scholar in Chicago. He is an Associate Professor in Sociology, Women's Studies, and Latino & Latin American Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. His four-part series, "Living...Read More
Cheerleader Punished for not Cheering Rapist
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 05, 2011 6:00 PM |In 2008, a high school cheerleader (known in court papers only as "HS") was raped by a student athlete at her school. He confessed and got probation. Later, at a basketball game, the cheerleaders were instructed to chant his name:...Read More
Country Star Blake Shelton's Homophobic Tweet
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 05, 2011 5:00 PM |They say you can tell someone's true character by the way they tweet. Blake Shelton, country music star and judge on NBC's latest singing competition show The Voice tweeted a homophobic parody of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine" Wednesday...Read More
Bin Laden's Winning Bet?
Filed by Terrance Heath | May 05, 2011 4:00 PM |In the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death, and the celebrations inspired by news of his demise, there’s been some discussion of whether Americans should be celebrating and just what Americans are celebrating. Are we celebrating the death of...Read More
Taiwan to Teach about Gays in School
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 05, 2011 2:00 PM |California is debating teaching about LGBT people in schools, but Taiwan will be starting in September: At a press conference with like-minded parents and teachers, [Legislator] Chu said she was not opposed to the idea of teaching children about gender...Read More
Nelson Vergel, the Personal Trainer Who Does Your Homework
Filed by Father Tony | May 05, 2011 1:00 PM |Personal trainer and author Nelson Vergel is the founder of The Body Positive Wellness Clinic in Houston, and the creator of "wellness restoration" programs for his clients. His body is composed of the rippling lean muscle you would expect of...Read More
Blood Money: Google's Dan Savage Commercial
Filed by Bil Browning | May 05, 2011 10:30 AM |I know this is going to make me unpopular (again), but here goes. While Google's Dan Savage commercial made other folks weepy, it sickens me. When the ad came on during Glee at our house, we were hosting a small...Read More
Surviving: Living in the Borderlands
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 05, 2011 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Brett Stockdill is a queer, HIV positive activist, teacher and scholar in Chicago. He is an Associate Professor in Sociology, Women's Studies, and Latino & Latin American Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. His four-part series, "Living...Read More
EGRIFTA, Erasing the Scarlet Letter of HIV
Filed by Father Tony | May 04, 2011 7:00 PM |Steve Stagon is a beautiful man, an eye-catcher in a crowd, whose handsome smile is a distraction from whatever he may be saying. Steve is neither vain nor overly self-conscious. In the mirror, he sees his flaws rather than his...Read More
Lara Logan Talks About her Sexual Assault
Filed by Karen Ocamb | May 04, 2011 6:00 PM |Lara Logan's appearance on 60 Minutes Sunday was overshadowed by the breaking news about the killing of al-Quada mastermind Osama bin Laden. I do not want her bravery in telling this horrendous story should go without notice for in some...Read More
A Gay Alum Has Words for Mt. Markham High School
Filed by Drew Cordes | May 04, 2011 5:00 PM |Jen Grygiel, a lesbian who was bullied during the time she attended Mt. Markham High School (class of '97) in West Winfield, New York, recently was inspired by the Back to Your School program to write to the principals in...Read More
Breaking Silence & Coming Out: Living in the Borderlands
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 04, 2011 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Brett Stockdill is a queer, HIV positive activist, teacher and scholar in Chicago. He is an Associate Professor in Sociology, Women's Studies, and Latino & Latin American Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. His four-part series, "Living...Read More
The Oral Sex Insult I Can't Use in this Headline
Filed by Andrew Belonsky | May 03, 2011 7:00 PM |There's no shortage of homophobic insults out there. Though some are more blatantly bigoted, like "faggot," and others - "fairy" - are more feeble, the pejorative meaning of many of these phrases is pretty straight-forward. Still others, however, are more...Read More
Caption Fun: The Situation Room
Filed by Mike Rogers | May 03, 2011 5:00 PM |Put your best ones in the comments... "Oh. My. God. Look at that screen. How did Bristol Palin survive another round of Dancing with the Stars?" "If you think this is tense, imagine if it was The Donald and The...Read More
Having the Sex Talk with Children
Filed by Jeff Lutes | May 03, 2011 3:30 PM |Healthy, age-appropriate, and sex-positive conversations with our children about the birds and the bees, or the birds and the birds, or the bees and the bees, or the "birds and either a bee or bird... are challenging for most parents,...Read More
Bin Laden: Many More Lives Yet to be Lost
Filed by Sara Whitman | May 03, 2011 11:30 AM |I'm disappointed and a little disgusted. I find it incredibly hard to be happy or excited today about Bin Laden's death. Of course I am glad that chapter has been closed. Bin Laden was a fugitive of justice. He was...Read More
The Second Tour of Officer Carney
Filed by Father Tony | May 03, 2011 10:30 AM |Is Officer Michael Carney more Irish than he is gay? There was strong evidence of both while he shared his story with me on Saint Patrick's Day in Wilton Manors over a strong brew, a strong brew by Starbuck's, to...Read More
The Odyssey of the Utterly Fabulous Mario Sierra
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 03, 2011 8:30 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Brett Stockdill is a queer, HIV positive activist, teacher and scholar in Chicago. He is an Associate Professor in Sociology, Women's Studies, and Latino & Latin American Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. His four-part series, "Living...Read More
Never Forgetting Means Remembering Where You Started
Filed by Jarrod Chlapowski | May 02, 2011 3:00 PM |On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was in the chow hall eating egg whites and bacon. We had TVs set up around the dining area which usually played Armed Forces Network (AFN) broadcasts. Usually it was innocuous news...Read More
A Change of Seasons
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | May 02, 2011 2:00 PM |On Thursdays, T and I have dinner together. It's so easy to fall out of touch with friends here, and I didn't want that to happen when I moved out of T's place, so we decided to have a standing...Read More
Arrests Made in Anti-Gay Attack on South Carolina Teen
Filed by Bil Browning | May 02, 2011 12:00 PM |Back in mid-April, we reported that a South Carolina teenager had been attacked by a group of five men at a local gas station. Joshua Esskew told investigators that the assault started when one man shouted an anti-gay slur at...Read More
LGBT Older Adults and Social Security
Filed by Michael Adams | May 02, 2011 11:00 AM |Nearly every day, I am reminded of the many ways in which LGBT older people are more vulnerable than their heterosexual counterparts. They have faced historical prejudice that has disrupted their lives and hurt their opportunities to earn a living...Read More
London Police Sexually Assault 2 Trans People During Royal Wedding?
Filed by Guest Blogger | May 02, 2011 10:00 AM |Editors' Note: Guest blogger Jane Fae is a writer, journalist and activist in the field of sexual rights. Over the last few years, Jane's focus has been on issues of policing and the law, civil liberties and censorship in the...Read More
Osama bin Laden's Death and My Impromptu Dance Party
Filed by Phil Reese | May 02, 2011 8:30 AM |[UPDATE: I wanted to amend the entry, at the bottom, with some extra thoughts that may give a bit more explanation to my emotion at the end of the piece. These come from a comment I made to the post...Read More
Straight Woman Gives Lesbian Moms a Discount, Gets Threats
Filed by Alex Blaze | May 01, 2011 5:30 PM |A straight baby supply shop owner in Brooklyn has been giving a 10% discount to lesbian mom, arguing "Women make less money than men." And this is the thanks she gets: The sign didn't cause much trouble -- aside from...Read More
Prolonged Adolescence
Filed by Anthony Carter | May 01, 2011 1:00 PM |Six pack abs, huge cocks, all night sex parties, and drug-induced orgies are now officially over. We are now officially required to man up and grow up and take our rightful place in society as responsible, trustworthy citizens. I want...Read More
Claiming Rainbow Pride
Filed by Jake Weinraub | May 01, 2011 10:00 AM |The following post is from my paper "Claiming Rainbow Pride," a continuation of ideas I was exploring in a post by the same name back in March. While browsing the internet the other day, I came across a blog entry...Read More
