YPSILANTI - The 2nd annual "Together in Faith" conference, a national multiracial, multigenerational conference for spiritual LGBT & ally activists, announced on Jan. 13 that its confirmed speakers list includes Tikkun's Rabbi Michael Lerner and [...]

Compiled By Dawn Wolfe People for the American Way will launch its first year of Young People For, a year-long fellowship program to "help today's rising progressive leaders accomplish their goals and make a difference [...]

by E. Layton Dorey In the auto industry like everything else: "What goes around, comes around." At the height of the McCarthy era - roughly 50 years ago - Ford was soundly criticized in the [...]

METRO DETROIT AREA: Thursdays: 7 p.m., Sobriety in the Hills at Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills; 8 p.m., Detroit Gay AA, St. Dominic's Church, Trumbull at Warren; 8 p.m., Pontiac Gay AA, Shrine of [...]

Wellspring/Blue Dahlia Redux II returns to Kalamazoo KALAMAZOO - Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers will again join local musicians Blue Dahlia to present the celebrated "Wellspring/Blue Dahlia Redux II." This majestic concert combines the modern dance [...]

This Week: George CarlinThurs. 1/20/05Wharton Center, E. Lansing Rachael DavisThurs. 1/20/05 8 p.m.The Ark, Ann Arbor Upcoming: Kathy GriffinWed. 1/26/05DeVos Hall, Grand Rapids Ann Arbor Folk Festival, featuring the Indigo GirlsFri. 1/28/05Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor [...]

By John Corvino Some of the nastiest mail I receive is not from right-wing homophobes, or even bitter ex-boyfriends, but from members of our own community who think I'm not progressive enough. For example, several [...]

Former Michigan Governor John Engler The National Association of Manufacturers, a big pro-business lobby that includes GM, will spend millions to ram through Bush's ultra-conservative judicial nominees, the Los Angeles Times reported Jan. 6. The [...]

Review: 'Side by Side by Sondheim' Send in the audience: Spectacular Sondheim revue gets loving treatment at the BoarsHead Love is in the air at Lansing's BoarsHead Theatre. Not only is that a song title [...]

By John Quinn Review: 'The King and I" A "royal" love story entertains at Detroit's Fisher Theatre Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear - the early '50s to be exact. Detroit's [...]

By Jody Valley Flying alone Q: I am a little afraid to tell you what is going on with me because I think you might decide I am crazy. I'm not. But I need someone [...]

By Romeo San Vicente The 'Confessions' of Joseph Lawrence Sorry, but you can't call him "Joey" anymore. The former "Blossom" teen and one-hit pop star is an adult now, and he wants to be known [...]

Compiled by Dawn Wolfe Arizona: A coalition of social conservatives opposing equal marriage rights will mount an initiative campaign to put a state constitutional amendment on Arizona's 2006 ballot instead of seeking legislative action as [...]

Just Out The Assassination of Richard Nixon It's 1974, and Samuel Bicke (Sean Penn), an emotionally unbalanced office-supply salesman, a lonely and obsessive divorced dad, and a self-described "grain of sand," is slowly coming undone. [...]

Buckeye is an adorable nine-month-old Pointer/Beagle mix. He currently weighs 52 pounds and should reach an adult weight of 60 pounds. Buckeye has a super personality. He is a very social dog who loves to [...]

Well, there was Jay Hovah, CEO minding his own damn corporate (military/industrial complex) business when along comes a cataclysmic stock market loss (150,000-plus Blue Chip Shares wiped out) and, wouldn't you know it, he gets [...]

The Eyes Have It Across 1 Leisha's character on "The L Word"6 Streisand's "Funny Girl" role11 Tatum O'Neal's "The ___ News Bears"14 Word that may follow sperm or organ15 Carrie Chapman Catt, once16 One of [...]

By Jack Fertig Window-shop, Virgo! Mars in Sagittarius lights up our energies for all kinds of adventures - new ideas, sports, or travels. While he's sextile to Jupiter in Libra, your energies are better coordinated [...]

"Lawmakers will be dealing with a feisty pregnant woman. We're going to do everything we can to protect our child." - Coalition for Adoption Rights Equality's newly pregnant President Bev Davidson on lobbying Michigan lawmakers [...]

Professional Theater: Boston Marriage Two Victorian women walk into a relationship: Are they sparring partners or each others' true love? Presented Thursday through Sunday at Performance Network Theatre, Ann Arbor, through Feb. 20. Tickets: $20 [...]

Get connected! Non-profit organizations are encouraged to send listings of ongoing events to Community Connections via email at dawnwolfe@pridesource.com, fax at 248-615-7018 or postal mail: 20793 Farmington Rd., Ste. 25, Farmington, MI 48336. FORTY WORD [...]

KALAMAZOO - On Jan. 11, the Arcus Foundation announced the recipients of its fall cycle 2004 grant awards. More than $1.4 million will be distributed to 28 organizations awarded grants through the Foundation's four funding [...]

By Sharon Gittleman DETROIT - Gay car, truck and SUV designers, engineers and dealers helped put the Motor City on the manufacturing map. LGBT contributions to the auto industry don't end at the assembly line. [...]

By Bob Roehr Leaders of 22 national LGBT organizations issued an unprecedented joint statement Jan. 13 on the unity and purpose of their working together to achieve full civil rights for all Americans. The unity [...]

By Bob Roehr President George W. Bush will not press for a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for same-sex couples, he told the Washington Post in an interview published Jan. 16. But even before the [...]

BY SHARON GITTLEMAN FERNDALE - It's not often you find a poem taking center stage on a diner's menu. It's even rarer for that poem to welcome LGBT people to the table. Club Bart is [...]

By Sharon Gittleman ROYAL OAK - No one was more stunned to learn LGBT activist Jim Domanski was named the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce's "Businessperson of the Year," than Jim Domanski. "I was shocked," [...]

January weather did not deter over two hundred people last Wednesday from showing up to greet returning state legislators in Lansing. They were there to remind them that all citizens in Michigan deserve equal protections [...]

TERRY LYNN HOWCOTT, M.S.W. A fine, smart, progressive person, asked me to consider writing an article about the coming Presidential Inauguration. We wrote about the obvious despondency many of us feel about four more years [...]

LANSING - Five new board members have joined the Lansing Area AIDS Network:Cindy E. Faulkner, an Assistant Professor at Cooley Law School who teaches in the Elderlaw clinic;Ric Martin, who is also the Director of [...]

LANSING - Thanks to the Tony Cox Cable Positive grant, LAAN will be entering a new arena - TV public service announcements. "Over the course of the next year we will be producing four, 30 [...]

By Dawn Wolfe LANSING - In his role as director of volunteer services for LAAN, Patrick Lombardi recruits, trains and oversees all of the roughly one hundred volunteers who are working with the agency at [...]

LANSING - Two hundred people gathered at the Capitol steps to demand protections for LGBT individuals and families as new lawmakers began their first session of the year Jan. 12. Representative Chris Kolb (D - [...]

By Lisa Keen AUGUSTA, ME - The quiet state of Maine has always been an unlikely site for major LGBT civil rights battles. It has none of the large metropolitan areas that attract large concentrations [...]

Compiled by Dawn Wolfe Politics Illinois bans LGBT discrimination SPRINGFIELD, IL - Capping an eleven year effort led by Equality Illinois, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a bill banning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual [...]

BTL Staff WASHINGTON - Legislators who voted against state constitutional amendments banning equal marriage rights rarely faced negative consequences when running for reelection in November, according to a report issued by the National Gay and [...]

By Dawn Wolfe LANSING - How can a Michigan lesbian or gay worker protect him or herself from being fired because of his or her sexual orientation? Join a major union. At least some of [...]

By Sharon Gittleman ROYAL OAK - Looking for a little thrill? If adding some excitement to your life was among your New Year's resolutions for 2005, you'll want to pencil the Reel Pride Michigan GLBT [...]

BTL's Assistant Editor D'Anne Witkowski takes a look at three of the highly anticipated film festival's offerings. For more info visit ReelPrideMichigan.com. Dorian Blues There's a reason "Dorian Blues" is screening twice at Reel Pride [...]

When the Vatican condemned Sister Jeannine Gramick to silence for ministering to lesbian and gay Catholics and ordered her to renounce homosexuality as "evil," her answer was as courageous as it was simple. She said [...]

DETROIT - The Michigan LGBT community is more united, more organized and more battle tested after the stunning loss suffered on Proposal 2 in the November 2004 election. That was the conclusion and tone of [...]

By Dawn Wolfe SWARTZ CREEK - On Jan. 11, the Arcus Foundation, which awards grants to LGBT service and advocacy organizations, announced that it would be giving $5,000 to TransGender Michigan "for general operations and [...]