Living: February 2012
Making Sense of Sex - A Fabulous Collaboration
Filed by Ricci Levy | February 29, 2012 4:00 PM |Woodhull is pleased and excited to announce the launch of "MAKING SENSE OF SEX" - a series of interviews with experts in the sex industry, including performers, educators and activists. Read More
The Leap Year Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 29, 2012 10:00 AM |It's that magical day when unicorns and leprechauns come out to play with good children everywhere in their bedrooms at midnight. Of course, this scares the shit out of kids, so that's why it only happens every four years.Read More
Uncomfortable Silence Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 28, 2012 10:30 AM |Today's edition of "What You Need to Know" is brought to you by Uncomfortable Silence Bear.Read More
Are Atlanta LGBT Activists Wrong on the Brandon White Incident?
Filed by Viktor Kerney | February 28, 2012 9:00 AM |Atlanta activists have claimed that Brandon White, the gay man beaten by three other men, was lying about his story. The group suggests that White's beating wasn't a "hate crime," it was "revenge" for threatening to out some of his attackers.Read More
Priest Walks Out of Funeral Service Over Deceased's Lesbian Daughter
Filed by Bil Browning | February 27, 2012 3:00 PM |A new champion has emerged for the "Asshole of the Year Award" after Father Marcel Guarnizo of the Gaithersburg, Maryland St John Neumann Catholic Church walked out of a funeral to protest the inclusion of the deceased's lesbian daughter.Read More
Shepard Fairey Faces Jail Over Iconic Obama Poster
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 27, 2012 1:00 PM |Los Angeles artist Shepard Fairey plead guilty Friday in the criminal case involving his iconic "Hope" poster for the Obama election campaign. He faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a maximum term of supervised release of one year. Read More
Was There More to Atlanta Anti-Gay Beating Than Appeared?
Filed by Bil Browning | February 27, 2012 10:30 AM |Atlanta LGBT activists are now questioning whether the brutal beating of Brandon White was motivated by anti-gay bias after all.Read More
Family Values: Blogging My Marriage Continued
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | February 26, 2012 5:30 PM |I've enjoyed seeing how much the wedding means to our families, how much joy our love and commitment brings to them, how much I look forward to them meeting each other and becoming one family surrounding and supporting us.Read More
Rutgers Spycam Suicide-Cyberbullying Case Goes to Trial
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 26, 2012 4:00 PM |Former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi went on trial in New Brunswick, New Jersey Friday in the cyberbullying case that may have lead to the suicide of Ravi's gay roommate, Tyler Clementi.Read More
Anita Bryant's Ex-Hubby Dies Full of Hatred, Bigotry & Blaming Gays
Filed by Guest Blogger | February 26, 2012 1:00 PM |Bob Green, was a onetime radio DJ who married pop Miss Oklahoma and orange juice spokesman Anita Bryant, managed her career and then followed her into anti-gay activism - which ultimately destroyed their careers and marriage.Read More
The LGBT Community & Alcohol Culture [Open Thread]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 26, 2012 11:00 AM |How prevalent is the alcohol culture where you live? Do you feel it's more obvious and forced when you participate in LGBT events? Are the only queer social outlets where you live gay bars?Read More
The Jesus F--king Christ Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 25, 2012 3:00 PM |Jesus Fucking Christ! Some people describe sex as a spiritual experience, but this is taking things a little too far.Read More
The Soft Bigotry of Passive Rejection
Filed by E. Winter Tashlin | February 25, 2012 1:00 PM |Hatred cloaked in ambivalence is no less hurtful, and after decades of fighting against the loudest voices in the room, we need to be listening with equal care for the soft voice of reasoned bigotry now more than ever. Read More
A Legal Take: Ryan Braun's Overturned Drug Suspension
Filed by Norm Kent | February 24, 2012 3:30 PM |Neither a technicality nor a loophole today freed Ryan Braun from a 50 game suspension. What saved Braun was the fact that we live in a society, which is supposed to preserve due process, insure fairness, and honor agreements protecting the rights of employees.Read More
Santorum Nail Polish Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 24, 2012 11:00 AM |Today's roundup is brought to you by Santorum Nail Polish. You'll shit yourself when you see it. It only comes in brown.Read More
An Open Letter to Indiana from a Hoosier Expatriate
Filed by Bil Browning | February 23, 2012 5:00 PM |I've always been proud of my Hoosier heritage. I didn't want to give up on you, Indiana. I wanted to help guide you away from being the middle finger of the south jutting up into the north.Read More
Is Refusing Service a Proactive Way To Change Minds?
Filed by James Holmes | February 23, 2012 4:00 PM |I have struggled with how I should feel about this news clip out of New Mexico of a stylist denying the Republican governor service over her stance on marriage quality. Did he miss out on a greater opportunity? Read More
I'm Getting Married in May
Filed by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer | February 23, 2012 1:30 PM |We chose a sprawling 19th century resort hotel nestled in the foothills of the Catskills, because we wanted to show off our beautiful state where there are gorgeous mountains and lakes and rivers, and gay people can get married. Read More
Exclamation Point Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 23, 2012 11:30 AM |Today's round of news you need to know is brought to you by a very demanding road sign.Read More
Indiana Moves Forward on Banning Gay License Plate
Filed by Austen Crowder | February 23, 2012 9:00 AM |Welcome to the flyover states, boys and girls; while the rest of the nation celebrates victory we deal with folks who will scorch earth if it means keeping those uppity queers from getting any table scraps!Read More
DOMA Is Unconstitutional (Again)
Filed by Bil Browning | February 22, 2012 6:15 PM |With so many steps marching forward toward full marriage equality and federal courts finding laws preventing it unconstitutional, how much longer do you think it will be before gay and lesbian couples can get married nationwide?Read More
Wonky Paving Stone Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 22, 2012 9:30 AM |What do you need to know today? I've rounded it all up into one post for you. Convenient, no? Be careful of the wonky paving stone though...Read More
Fat Tuesday [Open Thread]
Filed by James Holmes | February 21, 2012 12:30 PM |It's the last day of sinning for some of us (not me) before Lent begins tomorrow. Have any great Mardi Gras plans? Cock and boob flashing for shiny plastic? Hurricanes during your lunch break? Let us know. Read More
Tuesday Edition [What You Need to Know]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 21, 2012 11:30 AM |Yesterday was President's Day but the news didn't take the day off (and I'm pretty sure the President didn't either!). What do you need to know this morning? Here it is.Read More
Is AZ Sheriff Babeu's Story About Outing, Immigration or Mitt Romney?
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 21, 2012 10:00 AM |The story of Arizona's Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu - an anti-illegal immigration hardliner and a Republican rising star running for Congress - has been firing up news outlets that think they've hit the trifecta.Read More
BlogLocal: Infusing LGBT Blogging Into Local "Scene"
Filed by Sue Kerr | February 20, 2012 5:30 PM |I was recently invited to submit my blog to a new resource, Blog Local, which bills itself as the resource "putting local blogging on the map." Read More
James Buchanan: America's First Gay President?
Filed by Guest Blogger | February 20, 2012 10:30 AM |Historian James W. Loewen has extensively researched the personal life of James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, and he's convinced Buchanan was gay, having shared much of his life with William Rufus King, a senator from Alabama.Read More
Are Kids Coming Out Too Early?
Filed by E. Winter Tashlin | February 18, 2012 3:30 PM |Different people have different trajectories for becoming aware of their sexual orientation and their gender identity. Denying the experience of someone like me does not positively contribute to the fabric of our community, even if we may represent a slightly uncomfortable reality.Read More
What They Don't Tell You
Filed by Father Tony | February 17, 2012 11:00 AM |I assumed that physical attraction was like those fuel barrels that boost a rocket through the heat of the atmosphere and then are detached and are cast off to orbit the earth. Like debris. Like memories.Read More
Constitutional Logic 101
Filed by Bil Browning | February 17, 2012 10:00 AM |David Mixner shared this graphic from his niece on Facebook and the logic behind it is infallible. This should become one of our most regularly used arguments.Read More
A More Positive Side of Vegan
Filed by James Holmes | February 16, 2012 4:00 PM |Earlier today I published a post condemning PETA's newest pro-vegan ad that promotes violence rather than compassion. After seeing the comments coming in, I thought I'd post a few videos that put veganism in the positive light it deserves. Read More
Erotica, Valentine's Day, & the Missouri River
Filed by James Holmes | February 15, 2012 5:00 PM |Last night for Valentine's Day, my partner and I decided to go for a less traditional approach. Rather than going out for dinner and a movie we accepted an invitation to an erotic book reading.Read More
HIV Criminalization Face-Off: A Poz Man & His Accuser
Filed by Mark S. King | February 15, 2012 1:30 PM |What if you could witness a face-to-face confrontation between a man living with HIV and the sex partner accusing him of not revealing his status? Wouldn't you like to be a fly on that wall?Read More
Log Cabin Republican Pioneer Thomas Hunter Russell Dies
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 15, 2012 10:00 AM |On Monday, longtime activist Jeanne Barney sent me an email telling me that Thomas Hunter Russell died peacefully at his home last Wednesday, on Feb. 8. He was 71.Read More
Top 10 Reasons To Celebrate Being Single
Filed by Jeff Lutes | February 14, 2012 7:00 PM |Today I am reminded that many people remain single. Let's include our whole community in today's festivities by recognizing the top ten advantages to being single on Valentine's Day.Read More
ADHD: A Drug Helps Daddy Too
Filed by Kergan Edwards-Stout | February 14, 2012 4:00 PM |As gay people, many of us have been told time and again that we are not good enough - that there is something wrong with us. Being judged by others fed into that messaging. Still, they didn't have to deal with Marcus every day.Read More
Google's Valentine's Day Doodle Goes Gay
Filed by James Holmes | February 14, 2012 3:00 PM |The Google Doodle of the day is a video showing a boy's attempts to woo the girl of his dreams and ends with images of other couples include gays and lesbians - but is it a good thing? Read More
Happy Valentine's Day! Get Engaged for Marriage Equality
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 14, 2012 2:00 PM |The annual Valentine's Day marriage license counter protest, which contributed to the May 2008 California Supreme Court decision that allowed same-sex couples to marry, will occur every year until same sex couples are afforded the same rights as the rest of society.Read More
Gender 'Differance': Alienation & Validation
Filed by Drew Cordes | February 14, 2012 12:00 PM |I'm a transgender woman and I had gender reassignment surgery a little less than a year ago. At this point, I am expected to feel validated and "complete" as a person in terms of my gender expression. This is not the case.Read More
Happy, Anxious, Anxious, Happy
Filed by Leslie Robinson | February 14, 2012 10:00 AM |Recent LGBT news from around the world has plucked me from my happy place and plunked me down on an anxious acre. Listen, if it weren't for that continuing glow from local news, I'd be on an irate island.Read More
Take Action: Queering Qdoba on Valentine's Day
Filed by Bil Browning | February 13, 2012 4:30 PM |Okay, gang. It's time to queer Qdoba for Valentine's Day. The Mexican restaurant is running a special for the holiday. All entrees are buy one get one free if you kiss "a significant other, family member, friend, or understanding stranger" at the register.Read More
What Social Scientists Might Tell Santorum About Same-Sex Parents
Filed by Jeff Lutes | February 13, 2012 3:30 PM |On the campaign trail, Rick Santorum has been repeating his false claim that same-sex parents are bad for children. Social scientists disagree. Publicly. Read More
Whitney Houston: How Do We Mourn Celebrities?
Filed by Adam Polaski | February 12, 2012 5:30 PM |So how should we mourn our celebrities? When our personal or generational experiences and encounters with these public figures vary so greatly, is it even possible to follow a script? Is it even necessary?Read More
Aussie Gay Couple Want Their Son Back from DCFS
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 12, 2012 11:30 AM |Several Australian news sites confirmed Thursday that an unidentified Australian gay male couple is being investigated by the FBI for allegedly belonging to an international child pedophilia ring.Read More
North Korea: May His Light Shine Upon You
Filed by Bil Browning | February 11, 2012 4:00 PM |The World Press Photo awards have been announced and, as always, the photography is simply stunning. You'll have to surf over to the site to see this year's big winner, but this photo from North Korea really resonated with me.Read More
Is This a Purebred Wiener Dog? [Caption This]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 11, 2012 10:00 AM |What's your best caption for this photo of a, uh, wiener dog?Read More
Does Your Smartphone Think Rape And Anti-Semitism Are OK?
Filed by Daniel Villarreal | February 10, 2012 5:00 PM |Iris, the voice-activated personal assistant on Android phones, thinks abortion is wrong, Satan is real, and that rape might be justified. This is a problem for LGBT people around the world.Read More
More Crazy Conspiracy Theories & Assumptions
Filed by Bil Browning | February 10, 2012 12:30 PM |Here's yet another nutjob pontificating about me based entirely on their own assumptions and made-up conspiracy theories. It reminds me of a Twitter troll who insists I've "sold out to Gay Inc" for the invitations to "ski weekends and circuit parties."Read More
'Its Okay Because My Friend Is Gay' #FAIL
Filed by Sue Kerr | February 10, 2012 9:00 AM |A local radio program was doing a sketch bit about "trannies" yesterday - it seems that they were guessing the biological gender of a photo array of sex workers. Yep, that's what passes for morning entertainment in Pittsburgh.Read More
Our Place in the World: Reclaiming Our Humanity
Filed by Kergan Edwards-Stout | February 09, 2012 6:00 PM |The right wing has been so effective in demonizing our community as something exotic, sexually driven, and threatening that the sheer normalcy of our existence has in large part been forgotten. By painting us as predatory beings, they have stripped us of our humanity.Read More
Colorado Student's Arrest Could Finally End Glitter-Bombing
Filed by Daniel Villarreal | February 09, 2012 4:00 PM |The Secret Service arrested and charged 20-year-old Peter Smith for trying to glitter bomb Mitt Romney. Does this spell the end for the election season's sparkliest form of LGBT protest? Read More
Put a Ring On It: The Economics of Marriage
Filed by Terrance Heath | February 09, 2012 12:00 PM |I'm off to cover CPAC today, where -- in light of a federal court ruling California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional -- I'm likely to hear a favorite conservative talking point repeated: Marriage cures poverty, unemployment, and another economic problem.Read More
Teenager on Prop 8 Ruling: 'My Family is Finally Normal'
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 08, 2012 6:00 PM |With so much attention paid to the legal aspects of the Prop 8 decision, much of the eloquence of those most directly involved has been glossed over. It's also important to hear from the people who live, eat and sleep this case, if only briefly.Read More
Looking Back: The Gay General in the Wizard of Oz
Filed by Guest Blogger | February 08, 2012 4:00 PM |I'm currently reading Jane Lynch's autobiography and have discovered I have more in common with Jane than I might have first realized.Read More
Keep Leaping Toward Equality!
Filed by Davina Kotulski | February 08, 2012 2:15 PM |Let's keep leaping toward equality and keep the fire for equality burning strong this month. This is a leap year, after all, and the year of the Dragon.Read More
Cynthia Nixon's Choice & Komen's Anti-Choice
Filed by Amy Andre | February 08, 2012 1:00 PM |Her main thesis seemed to be that sexual orientation can be a choice for some, and is a choice for her. The "Born This Way" crowd gasped and berated her. I yawned. She was right.Read More
Have Things Worsened Since 'It Gets Better' Started?
Filed by Daniel Villarreal | February 07, 2012 6:30 PM |It Gets Better founder Dan Savage says that anti-gay bullying has actually worsened since his campaign began.Read More
Counter Protesting Westboro at the Super Bowl
Filed by Annette Gross | February 07, 2012 5:30 PM |Westboro Baptist Church claimed they were picketing the Super Bowl because they feel that people spend too much time watching football when they should be in church instead.Read More
BREAKING: Prop 8 Is Unconstitutional (Again)
Filed by Bil Browning | February 07, 2012 1:00 PM |The highly anticipated Proposition 8 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been released.Read More
New Yorker Sheds More Light on the Clementi-Ravi Story
Filed by Yasmin Nair | February 07, 2012 12:00 PM |Can we grapple with the complexity of the truth instead of being seduced by the more palatable tale of good and evil?Read More
What to Expect from Today's Prop 8 Ruling
Filed by Bil Browning | February 07, 2012 10:00 AM |What can folks expect from today's highly anticipated Proposition 8 decision by a federal appeals courtRead More
Poisonous Parenting: The Santorum Edition
Filed by Terrance Heath | February 06, 2012 4:15 PM |It was my work-related blogging that alerted me to a remark Santorum made, comparing gay parents to felons, which inspired me to return to this series.Read More
Meet Betsie Gallardo's Mothers [Video]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 06, 2012 1:00 PM |One of the highlights of my career was starting the viral campaign to get Betsie Gallardo freed from a Florida prison days before she died; Gallardo was falsely imprisoned under an HIV criminalization law. Her mother, Jessica Bussart, is speaking out to the media about her ordeal.Read More
New Orleans Inferno: The UpStairs Lounge Fire
Filed by Jesse Monteagudo | February 06, 2012 11:30 AM |On June 24, 1973 an arsonist started a fire that consumed the UpStairs Lounge, a second-floor gay bar in New Orleans's French Quarter. The UpStairs Lounge Fire was both the deadliest fire in the history of New Orleans and the largest mass-killing of gay people in the US.Read More
Playing Hooky [Open Thread]
Filed by Bil Browning | February 05, 2012 12:00 PM |When was the last time you played hooky at work or school? What did you use as your excuse and what did you really do?Read More
Meet the Anti-Gay Woman Who Shredded the Komen Brand
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 04, 2012 6:00 PM |Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel is widely credited as being the mastermind behind the Susan G. Komen Foundations decision to cut off Planned Parenthood. Now a Senior Vice President at Komen, she has a history of extreme anti-gay positions.Read More
Akilah Oliver & the Legacy of Grief
Filed by Kyle Bella | February 04, 2012 4:00 PM |I explore the impact the queer, Black poet Akilah Oliver has had in shaping my politics, and how her legacy can influence the way we do politics in the future.Read More
Robin Tyler Separates from Wife Diane Olson
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 04, 2012 2:00 PM |With marriage also comes the possibility of divorce. Still need both rights - and responsibilities.Read More
Komen Will Keep Funding Planned Parenthood, but for How Long?
Filed by Daniel Villarreal | February 03, 2012 2:15 PM |Komen's reversal leaves unclear their reason for initially denying Planned Parenthood funding and whether they'll approve future grant requests from the reproductive and child health organization.Read More
Occupy Valentine's Day: Bring Love
Filed by Karen Ocamb | February 03, 2012 12:00 PM |Love is not a product! This Valentine season let's reclaim love. A call to action for Occupies everywhere; how will you occupy Valentines?Read More
Defense Contractor Protects LGBT Employees After 50,000 Sign Petition
Filed by Joe Mirabella | February 03, 2012 10:00 AM |Defense contractor DynCorp announced it is adding sexual orientation and gender identity to its workplace nondiscrimination policies after 50,000 people demanded the company protect its LGBT employees. Read More
Queering Greenpeace on a Boat
Filed by Jessica Max Stein | February 02, 2012 5:30 PM |It's not every weekend you get to help save the earth and hang out on a brand-new trilevel 200-foot yacht, but due to a unique collaboration between Greenpeace and queer organization MIX NYC, I recently enjoyed this privilege. Read More
Michael Carroll Is Edmund White's Stroke of Good Fortune
Filed by Father Tony | February 02, 2012 1:00 PM |Stellar gay author Edmund White has suffered a stroke that has changed the daily routine he shares with his partner, writer Michael Carroll.Read More
Ellen & JC Penny: A PR Tempest in a Gay Teapot
Filed by Bil Browning | February 02, 2012 11:30 AM |After the hate group One Million Moms announced they were calling on their supporters to replace Ellen Degeneres as their new spokesperson because she's a lesbian, GLAAD and gay bloggers sprang into action.Read More
Susan G. Komen's Planned Parenthood Cuts Hurt Poor Women of Color Most
Filed by Daniel Villarreal | February 01, 2012 8:00 PM |For an organization seeking a cure for breast cancer, Susan G. Komen might want to check if its heart is still in the right place.Read More
Hunger Games: German Man Killed & Cooked After Sex Game
Filed by James Holmes | February 01, 2012 6:00 PM |The Berlin gay community was shocked Wednesday when it was reported that a gay man living in Berlin and missing since New Years was found decapitated, dismembered and partially cooked in the apartment of his occasional sex partner. Read More
