By John Corvino As readers of this column already know, the November ballot in Michigan is likely to include the following proposed amendment to our state constitution: "To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage [...]

Race. No human characteristic is more complex; and no geographic region is more replete with these complexities - or more polarized by them - than metropolitan Detroit. Nine years ago, when disenfranchised African-Americans in the [...]

Every morning I wake up and get out on the politically correct side of my bed -- unless I've slept with a Log Cabin Republican or a Ralph Nader diehard. Slipping off my rainbow jammys [...]

By Phill Wilson, Executive Director of the Black AIDS Institute I just returned from the XV World AIDS conference in Bangkok Thailand. No matter where the international AIDS conference is held, it always ends the [...]

By Mubarak Dahir Everyone knew going into the vote on the federal marriage amendment, which would have banned gay and lesbian couples from ever getting married, that the proposition was a loser. From the standpoint [...]

2004 Ford Detroit International Jazz Festival presents 25th anniversary celebration DETROIT - Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts and Ford Motor Company announced that Detroit's own and internationally revered diva Aretha Franklin, the legendary [...]

Review: 'A New Brain' There's trouble in YOUR brain if you don't enjoy 'A New Brain' If heart and music make a song, as playwright William Finn tells us in "A New Brain," then The [...]

Sherman to play expanded role at BoarsHead Theatre LANSING - BoarsHead Theatre artistic director Geoffrey Sherman will expand his role at mid-Michigan's only professional resident theater next month when he temporarily assumes the duties of [...]

Professional Theater: Bright Ideas Murder, mayhem preschool! Some parents will do anything to get their child admitted! Presented Tuesday through Sunday at Mason Street Warehouse, Saugatuck, Aug. 4 - 14. Tickets: $27.50 - $30. 269-857-4898. [...]

By Sharon Gittleman Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to wake up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Just ask Michael Krieger. "I did singing telegrams for a few years in my late teens-early 20's. [...]

FERNDALE - Lawrence Street Gallery, located in downtown Ferndale, is conducting portfolio reviews for local artists working in any media who are interested in gallery membership. The gallery is an association of local artists, and [...]

Suburban Lesbians Of Michigan will be holding the organization's 2nd annual Benefit on Friday, August 6 at Stilettos. The theme of the evening is "Naughty Nytemare." Live entertainment will be provided by The Impaler, The [...]

FERNDALE - The Eighth Annual Ferndale Pub Crawl is Friday, July 30. The crawl is a charity fundraiser with a walking tour of nightclubs, restaurants, and pubs in downtown Ferndale. More than six hundred participants [...]

Year number nine is shaping up to be a blast. HereÕs a look at whatÕs in store. Wednesday, July 28 What: Rise Up Opening Reception,* featuring jazz group Straight Ahead and poetry by Kalimah Johnson [...]

This is one of several events DBG Pride has re-crafted and put a new coat of paint on in the hopes of attracting a larger crowd. As opposed to a weekday, day-long conference, which required [...]

DETROIT - Since its inception nine years ago, one name has been synonymous with Hotter Than July - Detroit Black Gay Pride; and that name is Johnny Jenkins. While year by year each of the [...]

By Imani Williams Sistas Providing Intelligence Creativity and Empowerment, is hosting a tea dance, Sun. Aug. 1, at the Palladium in Detroit. This event is open to men and women age 18 and up and [...]

By Imani Williams Sistas Providing Intelligence Creativity and Empowerment, will host this year's Women's Institute as part of Detroit Black Gay Pride's Genesis Summit V. The interactive workshop titled, 'The Joys and Woes of being [...]

The Michigan International Gay Rodeo Association will host the Greater Motown International Rodeo, Part V, at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Belleville from July 30 - August 1. This event is so popular in the [...]

Friday, July 30th Wayne County Fairgrounds 9 a.m. IGRA Board of Directors Meeting 6 - 9 p.m. Contestant Registration 6 - 11 p.m. Motown Saloon (C&W Dancing) 8 - 11 p.m. Tret Fure Concert with [...]

I can remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. I was standing on the arm of an overstuffed chair in my friend Judy's living room, twirling a tired piece of rope and [...]

Photos by Ray Magdaleno Monday, July 19 at Gigi's Cafe

By Romeo San Vicente Frank-N-Furter sings for spam Tim Curry, everyone's favorite "sweet transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," will join David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria as King Arthur, Sir Robin, and Sir [...]

Thursday Pronto hosts "Will & Grace" with $3 pints. Friction with Tom Newman at The Works. Martini Night at the Male Box. Rumors Nightclub hosts College night with DJ Gemini in Grand Rapids. Latino night [...]

Just Out A Cinderella Story Sam (Hilary Duff) is this fairy tale's Cinderella, a San Fernando Valley girl being raised by a cruel stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge) and denied the usual middle-class teen amenities like hot [...]

Ben Gay Across1 Olympic award for Louganis6 Al of Alison Bechdel's field10 Hunter's favorite diet colas?14 Where to find your favorite boxers15 Mine, to Rimbaud16 "Cat on ___ Tin Roof"17 Bodies of soldiers18 Anna, to [...]

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By Jill Dearman Drop your facade, Gemini! ARIES (March 21 to April 20): Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you things you'd wear and enjoy if you were happy! Indulge yourself with [...]

By Jill Dearman Drop your facade, Gemini! ARIES (March 21 to April 20): Love affairs abound during this cycle, sweetie. You will enjoy being the object of so much attention, but you may not dig [...]

Note expanded AFFIRMATIONS listings after community center information. Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center 195 West Nine Mile, Ferndale, MI 48220 Phone: 248-398-7105 Fax: 248-541-1943 Email: info@GoAffirmations.org Web: www.GoAffirmations.org Affirmations is home to nearly 150 [...]

By Jody Valley Learn about yourself with peers Q: My sister and I have always been very close, and up until now, I have pretty much told her everything that is going on in my [...]

By E. Layton Dorey I love the Honda Element. But I won't be getting one; my husband loathes it like no other (worse even than the Aztec says he). I think this highly polarized reaction [...]

FERNDALE - The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project is working with Dr. Paul Benson and Abbott Laboratories to offer free rapid HIV tests on Wednesday, August 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. at its agency in [...]

By Eartha Melzer THOMPSONVILLE - The annual Friends North bike tour was apparently the target of a right-wing extremist attack near Thompsonville in northern Michigan the night of July 24. Around 70 people, including two [...]

Michigan's US Representatives voted along party lines with all six Democrats voting against and all nine Republicans voting in favor of The Marriage Protection Act (HR 3133). Contact your Representative about his or her vote [...]

By Sarah Mieras LANSING - Through the countryside, up and down hills, over and under highways, more than 24 riders hit the road on the weekend of July 17 to raise funds for the Lansing [...]

By Sharon Gittleman NOVI - At the Natural Living, DŽcor, Art and Fashion Expo you can learn about decorating, have your dog's astrological chart read, watch a risquŽ fashion show or buy a vintage cocktail [...]

By Dawn Wolfe Three Republican primaries should be of particular interest to voters in the LGBT community this Aug. 3. In the 33rd district, Rep. Leon Drolet is one of only two Republican House members [...]

During the Aug. 3 primary election, proponents of fairness and equal rights have the opportunity to cast their vote for candidates that support LGBT equality. BTL spoke with Pride PAC's Sean Kosofsky about a few [...]

Proposed marriage amendment headed to Arkansas ballot LITTLE ROCK - A proposed constitutional amendment to ban equal marriage rights was certified Thursday as having enough signatures so it can appear on the Nov. 2 general [...]

Compiled by Dawn Wolfe Family Rights Same-sex couples prepare to join domestic partner registry AUGUSTA, Maine - Dozens of couples are expected to join the state's domestic partner registry when it goes into effect at [...]

By Bob Roehr The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced on July 16 that it is dropping two lawsuits brought against Abbott Laboratories for increasing the price of the AIDS drug Norvir by 400% last December. [...]

By Bob Roehr The US House of Representatives passed the Marriage Protection Act of 2004 (MPA) on July 22 by a vote of 233 to 194. The measure would strip federal courts of the authority [...]

This material was researched and compiled by Howard Israel. In September, 1935 The Congress of the National Socialist Workers' Party (NAZI) convened in Nuremberg, Germany. Included on the Nazi agenda was the passage of a [...]

By Rex Wockner BOSTON - The Democratic National Convention kicked off here Monday with at least 255 LGBT delegates from 48 U.S. states and territories. At their first meeting, the LGBT caucus was addressed by [...]