By Dawn Wolfe In honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Feb. 7, AIDS Service organizations, health departments, and other organizations in several locations across the state will be holding workshops, giving free AIDS tests, [...]

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 [...]

By Jack Fertig Scram, Aries! Mars just entered Capricorn, focusing energies toward our goals. For better or worse, ambitions get more intense and goals seem more urgent. Idle hands lead to frustration and fights. Interest [...]

Internationally-acclaimed Australian singing phenomenon comes to the Royal Oak Music Theatre ROYAL OAK - The Ten Tenors, a new musical force to be reckoned with, are bringing their lavish celebration of vocal power to the [...]

By Jody Valley 'Trapped' in the open Q: I am a 43 year old woman. (I guess you want to know such things.) I just started a new job. I am a supervisor of a [...]

By Romeo San Vicente Desperately seeking 'Commuters' What's that screeching, lurching, gear-changing sound you hear? That's just every TV executive in Hollywood scrambling to find the next "Desperate Housewives." CBS execs think they've found theirs, [...]

By Dr. Kevin Wang Let's get physical Don't worry or start freaking out, running outside screaming in horror. I won't be donning sweatpants and a sweatshirt running around with a headband and legwarmers performing my [...]

Just Out Alone in the Dark Edward Carnby (Christian Slater) is a paranormal investigator on the trail of the evil remnants of an ancient lost civilization. That evil manifests itself in the form of giant [...]

Say hello to Carson, a handsome nine-month-old brown tabby cat. He is looking for a new home because his previous family no longer wanted him. He is very sweet and affectionate, and loves to be [...]

With the opening slice of the surgeon's scalpel, I felt a momentary twinge between my solar plexus and the seat of my pants. I also realized what was in store for the audience during the [...]

Beyond Leviticus Across1 ___ Raff ("Rocky Horror" character)5 Maupin stories10 Supporters of femmes14 Morales of "Resurrection Blvd."15 Like crisp prose (or the prose of Crisp?)16 Land of Emma Donoghue17 Manhandle, with "with"18 Title for 25-Across [...]

By Gwendolyn Ann Smith If one has spent any time on the Internet, you'll eventually find a well-meaning friend forwarding a virus warning, the urban legend about Bill Gates' e-mail tracking software, or compilations of [...]

LANSING - Local volunteers are hard at work organizing the first annual Hearts and Ribbons Valentine's Ball to benefit the Lansing Area AIDS Network. The dance will take place Sunday, Feb. 13, from 6-10 p.m. [...]

On Saturday, Feb. 12, Perceptions, a mid-Michigan LGBT community organization, will hold its third Valentine Dance from 7:30 p.m. to midnight at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Saginaw. Tickets are $25 at Perceptions events, [...]

Nominate your favorite volunteer, mentor, nonprofit organization, or corporation for the 2005 Governor's Service Awards. According to a letter by Governor Granholm announcing the awards, "It is through their efforts and the efforts of thousands [...]

ROCHESTER - Oakland University in Rochester will be holding a Women's Issues Fair on Monday, Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is sponsored by the school's Women's Issues Forum, a feminist, [...]

Application deadline Feb. 24 WASHINGTON DC - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is accepting applications for its Messenger-Anderson Journalism Internship/Scholarship Program for LGBT students. Self-identified LGBT high school seniors and undergraduate college students [...]

YPSILANTI - HIV/AIDS Resource Center recently received a national grant from the United States Conference of Mayors to work locally to help promote HIV/AIDS education and awareness among African American men. "HIV is affecting African [...]

TOLEDO - Sing Out Toledo presents its 3rd annual dinner cabaret, "Romance, Revelry and Rhythm" on Saturday Feb. 19 and 26 at Grumpy's Deli, 34 S. Huron St. in the warehouse district of downtown Toledo. [...]

By Miles Christian Daniels "Activist judges" are at it again. In a scene similar to that in Massachusetts just a year ago, last Friday a New York State Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples cannot [...]

By Imani Williams I attended Reel Pride's showing of 'The Cookie Project' Jan. 31 and was blown away by the directing talents of sista lesbian Stephanie Wynne. I showed up to the viewing with an [...]

Compiled by Dawn Wolfe Alabama: A proposed constitutional amendment to ban equal marriage rights was approved by a House committee Feb. 2. Idaho A proposal to write a ban on equal marriage rights into the [...]

Compiled by Dawn Wolfe Politics House urges recruiting decision reversal WASHINGTON - On Feb. 2, the House urged the federal government to contest a court decision that would allow colleges to limit the activities of [...]

By Bob Roehr A trial judge in Manhattan ruled Feb. 4 that New York's marriage statues discriminate against same-sex couples in violation of that state's constitution. Judge Doris Ling-Cohan declared that the words husband, wife, [...]

Review: 'I Hate Hamlet' There's nothing to hate about 'I Hate Hamlet' at the Hilberry Theatre Andrew Rally hates "Hamlet." It's not that he has anything against the play itself, but like many people, anything [...]

Actor with Detroit roots returns to open Plowshares @ 15 celebration Lou Beatty Jr. to play title role in 'Paul Robeson' While preparing for the title role in "Paul Robeson" that opens Feb. 23 at [...]

Professional Theater: Betrayal Love proves to be a very fickle thing in this intimate and universal story about relationships by Harold Pinter. Presented Friday and Sunday at The Abreact, Detroit, Feb. 11 - March 5, [...]

Love takes work. For fans of Ani Difranco, the past 15 years have been evidence that long term relationships are hard. People change, people grow - and not always in the directions we want them [...]

By Dawn Wolfe Common Language bookstore, an LGBT presence on Ann Arbor's Fourth Street for thirteen years, opened in its new location in Braun Court, next to the /aut/ Bar, on Jan. 4. "We had, [...]

ANN ARBOR - OK, let's start here: What is "fat liberation?" Admit it, you read the subhead and wondered, right? Well, worry not. Heather MacAllister has an answer for you. "It is the radical concept [...]

The press release for "Proteus" says the film is "as beautiful and lush as the flower after which it is named." Oh, if only that were true. "Proteus" strives to be a powerful historical drama, [...]

George W. Bush Why is George W. Bush this week's creep? Oh, let us count the ways. First, there was his renewed call for a constitutional amendment to ban marriage for gays and lesbians during [...]

Each week in February http://Tolerance.org is featuring a profile of an African American who made major contributions to society but have been largely ignored by the history books. Last year Tolerance.org offered a four-part series, [...]

"Our second great responsibility to our children and grandchildren is to honor and to pass along the values that sustain a free society. So many of my generation, after a long journey, have come home [...]

By Sharon Gittleman FERNDALE - Three unprecedented donations promise to transform floor plans for the new Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center into brick and mortar. Last week, Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors [...]

By Dawn Wolfe ANN ARBOR - "Proposal 2 isn't about hurting people or about taking away benefits. It's about protecting 'traditional' marriage." Variations on that statement were made throughout the 2004 election campaign by the [...]

FERNDALE - Now through St. Patrick's Day, Carnival Condom Beads is donating 15 percent of the proceeds for orders of their Mardi Gras condom necklaces to Ferndale's Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center. Brian Kalakie, [...]

FERNDALE - Wonderful Animals Giving Support, the popular Ferndale-based program that provides pet support to persons living with HIV/AIDS, was the recipient of a generous grant from the General Motors Foundation, made possible by GM [...]

He once painted a portrait of Ruth Ellis, last week's Black History Month profile subject, and unless you happened to visit Ruthie in her downtown apartment, odds are you've never seen an original Foster. That [...]

By Dawn Wolfe A January Michigan Appeals Court decision may support the rights of students and community members to hold meetings of Gay-Straight Alliances in the public schools. The case, Scalise v. Boy Scouts of [...]

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays/Detroit will award three $500 scholarships for the school year beginning September 2005 to residents of Wayne, Oakland or Macomb counties. In order to apply, or to nominate [...]

OAK PARK - Rabbi David Saperstein, the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, will be Temple Emanu-El's Scholar in Residence during the weekend of Feb. 25. Under Rabbi Saperstein's leadership, the Religious [...]

DETROIT - Lesbian A-Sisters will host its second annual "Shiver" concert featuring performances by Barbara Payton and Serena Escavelle on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 10 p.m. at the Rainbow Room located at 6640 Eight Mile [...]

By Dawn Wolfe In Michigan, there will be a kiss-a-thon on the Oakland County courthouse steps, and state lawmakers will be receiving Valentines. In Louisville, people of faith will show their less-enlightened brothers and sisters [...]

TROY - Concert pianist Joseph Palazzolo will be appearing this Sunday at PFLAG-Detroit's monthly meeting. He will present a lecture on gay composers and also perform. "Many composers throughout history have been gay but due [...]

By Dawn Wolfe ANN ARBOR - The university that extended employment protection to gay and lesbian graduate employees in 1975 is refusing to do the same for transgender employees in 2005. Nor are University of [...]