Dear Jody
By Jody Valley All work and no play Q: I am just starting my own business. It is in its first year and I am doing OK. I know that it takes from 3 to [...]
The Gay Moralist: Homosexy in China
by John Corvino I am writing this column at my desk at the Xianlin Hotel at Nanjing Normal University in China, where I am delivering a two-week series of lectures on business ethics. Prior to [...]
General Gayety: The Human Wrongs Campaign
By Leslie Robinson In North Carolina, Baptists want to make it clear that gays are as welcome in their churches as collection-plate pilferers. The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina's board of directors has proposed [...]
Parting Glances: Maybe Titanic 666?
Fundies believe these are the Last Days, and the presence of LGBT pagans is but one more sign of calamities to come. Don't say you weren't warned. Mark your desk calendar: 6/06/06 and stay snug-a-bed [...]
Tonsil hockey night in Canada
By R.J. Beaumia In America, where batter-coated, deep-fried cheese is considered a snack and the average family sedan can go from Wal-Mart to the battlefield with a simple change of tires, the terms "de trop" [...]
Government puts ideology over science in AIDS policy
By Mubarak Dahir This June marks 25 years since a strange, unexplained new disease began leaving purple lesions on gay men and infecting their lungs with an uncommon pneumonia. Since the first reports of what [...]
Art & Around for the period June 1-10
Architecture/Design/Garden Tours: Douglas Merchants Spring Preview Party The City of the Village of Douglas invites everyone to celebrate its new downtown streetscape, extensively renovated with a bright, new look while retaining its friendly village atmosphere. [...]
Theater Events for the period June 1-10
Professional Theater/Opera: The Aboriginal Treatment Center Poet/playwright Ron Allen's examination of the archetypical black man's mind. The Thick Knot Rhythm Ensemble at the former Furniture Factory, Detroit. Fri.-Sun., June 9-July 2. $20. 734-576-9547. Additional Particulars [...]
Gay author to ‘Haunt’ Ann Arbor
ANN ARBOR - Chuck Palahniuk, renowned author of "Haunted," will appear in Auditorium A at Angell Hall in Ann Arbor on June 7 at 7 p.m. "Haunted" is made of 23 horrifying, hilarious and stomach-churning [...]
Concert Connections
This Week: Chrissy Burns Thurs. 6/1, Fri. 6/2, Sat. 6/3/06 Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle, Royal Oak English Beat Fri. 6/2/06 Royal Oak Music Theatre The Knack, The Fixx, Tommy Tutone Sat. 6/3/06 DTE Energy Music [...]
Cho and Lauper join Gay Games entertainment line up
CHICAGO - Comedian Margaret Cho and 80s pop idol Cyndi Lauper will join the roster of over 60 entertainers at the 2006 Chicago Gay Games, which closes registration on June 15. Cho will participate in [...]
New play challenges stereotypes
By BTL Staff DEARBORN - In a split second, your life can change. Just ask Levar Penningsworth, an African-American man who gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Originally conceived as a [...]
Greater Lansing Gay Men’s Chorus to perform June 2-3
EAST LANSING - On June 2 and 3, the Greater Lansing Gay Men's Chorus will perform "Diva By Diva." The concert, originally developed and performed by the New Orleans Gay Men's Chorus, celebrates the icons [...]
Hear Me Out
Pleasureman Günther (Rhino/Wea) A Swedish hedonist with a mullet wants to sex you up. His name is Günther, and he is the "Pleasureman." Already known for his sexy ways in Europe, Günther is seeking to [...]
Curtain Calls
By BTL Staff 2006 Wilde Awards: Let the Voting Begin 2005-06: Another season of excellence Time flies when Michigan's busiest theater critics are having a blast reviewing shows staged by the state's professional theater companies, [...]
‘Dykes’ cartoonist tells memoir in graphic story format
Alison Bechdel examines relationship with her father in "Fun Home" When most authors decide to write their autobiography, they sit in front of their computer and pound away at the keyboard. Not Alison Bechdel. Instead, [...]
Shake it up, let ’em out
INKSTER - If there's one type of bra that Kathleen Ulm worships it's "the kind that comes off easily," she says. But black bras, another favorite, is what Ulm expects over 1,000 women to be [...]
Dancing on Crystal Waters
Go figure. Renowned dance-club diva Crystal Waters learned from drag queens. "I was so shy when I first started," she told queerday.com. "Drag queens have these amazing stories about not being accepted, but they still [...]
Small screen Pride
In Good Conscience: Sister Jeannine Gramick's Journey of Faith (Out of the Blue Films) In Barbara Rick's acclaimed documentary, "In Good Conscience," a most unlikely and very funny rebel Ñ an American nun Ñ finds [...]
Remembrance of passing parades…
This June hundreds of thousands of LGBT celebrants take part in local, national, and international pride parade events. Thirty-two years ago New York City's Christopher Street, in the highly gay-populated Greenwich Village, was the birthplace [...]
Gay TV guide
Check out what's queer on the small screen this summer. JUNE 1 "Portrait of a Marriage" 9 p.m. Logo. This British melodrama follows the torrid love affair between feminist writer Vita Sackville-West (Janet McTeer) and [...]
Now Playing
May 29, 2006 NEW THIS WEEK: The Da Vinci Code Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), an expert in decoding symbols, finds himself caught up in a murder mystery. After a man is killed inside the Louvre [...]
Paige in profile
With the new dramedy "Say Uncle" and two TV series - a comedy-reality hybrid and a drama - in the works, Peter Paige won't have much time to attend Pride events this month. That's not [...]
Oh, those scary homos: PBS documentary traces 1960s gay witch hunt
'The Great Pink Scare' to air in early June DETROIT - In an age where photos and videos of every sex act imaginable are only a mouse-click away, it's hard to imagine a time when [...]
Creep of the Week: Don Wildmon
Don Wildmon This week's Creep, American Family Association Founder and Chairman Don Wildmon, comes to you courtesy of our Chicken Little Department. As much as right-wing conservatives love to hate us, LGBT folks make them [...]
SHe Said June 1, 2006
"What's going to be shown on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and for all I know Aljazeera, is a montage of drag queens, leather enthusiasts, and floats in the shape of a penis — all parading [...]
Bills would hurt children for sake of ‘morals’
By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman LANSING - Pro-gay family advocates were handed a favor by the state House on May 24. Because that body ran overtime, a hearing on bills that could make it substantially more [...]
Anti-Defamation League recognizes Women of Achievement
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — The Anti-Defamation League held their annual Women of Achievement Awards May 30 in Troy, where five women were honored for their commitment to justice, diversity and the betterment of society. This yearÕs [...]
Triangle’s youth summer camp date changed
DETROIT - The date of Triangle Foundation's summer camp for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied youth in grades 8-12 has changed to Aug. 13-18. The camp, titled Camping.OUT, will provide a safe place for [...]
Gay IT group to gather at Angel’s
FERNDALE - And you thought LGBT people were just about high fashion, haute couture, and gourmet cuisine. Well, you were wrong. The Lambda Information Technology Group has formed to show the world that LGBTs can [...]
Fifteenth annual race to cure breast cancer June 10
DETROIT - ItÕs time again to lace up your athletic shoes and join the fight against breast cancer. MichiganÕs largest footrace, the 15th Annual Komen Detroit Race for the Cure, presented locally by the Barbara [...]
21st Annual Pride awards winners announced
WARREN - The 21st Annual Pride Banquet & Awards Ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. June 22 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren. Awards this year go to the following dedicated and hard-working [...]
Rainbow House to host fundraiser at The Ark
ANN ARBOR - Rainbow House, an LGBT community/Habitat for Humanity project, will host "Homegrown Returns," a folk music reunion fundraiser, on June 19 at The Ark. Ann Doyle, Kathy Moore, Judy Valenti, Marsha Mumm, Jean [...]
Riding for equality
DETROIT - When Chad Grandy ventured through the United States with 32 other LGBT and allied riders in gay activist group Soulforce's bus plastered in equality slogans he wasn't sure what to expect. "My worst [...]
People of faith join to oppose marriage amendment
By BTL Staff Rev. Beth Rakestraw is hopeful that the Federal Marriage Amendment will fail when it comes to a vote in the Senate on June 5. "I want to make sure that all people [...]
Don’t worry. Be happy! You can change. (Or, can you?)
According to a Sexuality Poll conducted by Scientific American MIND magazine in its April/May 2006 issue, 50 percent of its readers believe that sexual orientation is innate, genetic or predetermined by other factors such as [...]
Granholm signs bills to restrict funeral protests
By The Associated Press LANSING - Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed legislation May 23 restricting protests at funerals in Michigan. The new law is designed to stop demonstrations by the anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, which has [...]
Guerriero to Move from Log Cabin to Gill Action Fund
By Bob Roehr WASHINGTON - Patrick Guerriero will step down as president of Log Cabin Republicans and in September become the first executive director of the Gill Action Fund. The announcement came on May 23. [...]
AIDS service organization shows off new digs
By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman DETROIT - Health Emergency Lifeline Program moved to a new location in December, and on June 9 the AIDS service provider is hosting an Open House to re-introduce itself to the [...]
Songbird’s scent captured by local candle makers
FERNDALE - They may call their company Down To Earth, but personal and professional partners Michael Kusz and Michael Nelson of Ferndale have created a line of candles that are absolutely heavenly. The couple, which [...]
PFLAG parents get a second chance at love
BY SHARON GITTLEMAN FARMINGTON HILLS - When Tom Nelson's wife died of brain cancer in 2004 - after nearly 50 years of marriage, he thought his life was over. Then a strange experience changed things [...]
Bush schedules marriage amendment press conference
WASHINGTON -- In a column for the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard, Executive Editor Fred Barnes broke the news that President Bush has decided to bow to right-wing demands and hold a press conference in [...]
Pride around the country: the rainbow is growing
Comprehensive Pride Calendar Below is a list of Pride events in Michigan and surrounding areas. For a list of Prides around the world visit http://www.gay.com/pride/calendar. May 26-29 Washington D.C. D.C. Black Pride. Join the largest [...]
Michigan Pride takes over Lansing June 23-24
LANSING - Get out those rainbow banners. It's that time of year again. Michigan Pride will kick off its annual LGBT celebration with a comedy show at 8 p.m. on June 23. The comedy show [...]
Billie Henning: It’s never too late to be your true self
By Dawn Wolfe Gutterman Billie Henning first expressed her true gender publicly in 1949. "We had a party at our high school and it was a costume party," Henning said. "So what I did was [...]
Brad Kenoyer: Gay Detroiter jumps into the political fray
BY SHARON GITTLEMAN DETROIT - Politics brings plenty of disappointments and disillusionments to those who battle to make the world a better place to live. Over the years, Brad Kenoyer, 28, has had more than [...]
Deirdre Shires: Expanding healthy horizons
BY SHARON GITTLEMAN FERNDALE - When Deirdre Shires walks out the door at Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center in Ferndale for the last time this summer to go back to school, she'll leave a [...]