Creep of the Week: Rep. Sam Graves
You know how kids like to trade the sickest stories they can think of to gross each other out? It turns out, conservatives never grow out of this, but instead of regaling fellow seven-year-olds with [...]
Parting Glances: 36 D with what?
Even with my trifocals on I just couldn't believe my eyes when I read the headline in this week's National Inquisitor, the well-known market-counter tabloid for "unusually fair-minded Catholics and surprisingly accommodating Anglicans." Its headline, [...]
All Politics is Loco: California Dreaming
by Sean Kosofsky TKO. Take that Gary Glenn, James Dobson and George W. Bush. After a series of marriage-related defeats and near misses, California hit a home run last week by rolling out their state [...]
Billy Masters
"I think that to get married to her would be a little act of rebellion. It's like if you've never had the vote and then you get it you're going to run out there and [...]
‘Beauty and the Beast’ to enchant audiences at Baldwin Theatre
ROYAL OAK - Stagecrafters will present Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" May 23 through June 15 at the Baldwin Theatre in Royal Oak. Based on the popular Disney animated feature, this lavish musical is the [...]
Let’s Talk About ‘Sex’
By John Polly A few months ago, on this most recent season of "Project Runway," the surprise appearance of a New York City icon prompted an unprecedented freak-out among the assembled designers. Sarah Jessica Parker [...]
Book Marks
By Richard Labonte "Red Audrey and the Roping," by Jill Malone. Bywater Books, 282 pages, $14.95 paper. Jane Elliot, her psyche scarred as a young woman by the death of her mother, leads a life [...]
“Cool your jets, Leo!”
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Mars in Leo elicits daring and flash. Alas, in conflict with Uranus and Pisces, that's sure to lead to all sorts of disasters, from fashion "faux pas" to physical mutilation. [...]
QPuzzle ths week
Q Puzzle Across 1 Croupier's tool 5 Swallow alternative 9 Gay city 14 What comes to mind 15 Scat queen 16 Family name of Boy George 17 "Candid Camera" creator 18 Tin Woodman's concern 19 [...]
Healthcare Equality Index report released
by Bob Roehr The nation's leading LGBT political and medical groups are hoping that a voluntary set of standards and an evaluation dubbed the Healthcare Equality Index will help to move healthcare institutions toward fairer, [...]
State anti-gay hates crimes on the rise
DETROIT - Hate crimes in Michigan more than doubled in 2007 from the previous year's total, according to a report released Tuesday by the Triangle Foundation. The annual report, compiled with the cooperation of the [...]
Edwards endorses Obama, Pride PAC follows suit
GRAND RAPIDS — With over 15,000 screaming supporters of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's bid for the Democratic Presidential nomination looking on, Obama delivered some political theatre of his own here on Wednesday. He brought former [...]
‘Bridges’ marches aim to increase diversity acceptance
FERNDALE - Two public marches are in the works this summer to cross the 8 Mile bridge and raise awareness about the need to value cultural and racial differences. "Building Bridges: Walking Together to Embrace [...]
OU offers first LGBT peer mentoring program in Michigan
ROCHESTER - Oakland University's Gender and Sexuality Center will be offering the first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender peer mentoring program in Michigan this fall. The program is open to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral LGBT [...]
The California Decision
By Lisa Keen Keen News Service The California Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that state laws prohibiting the recognition of same-sex marriages violate state constitutional rights of gay people. The 4-3 opinion, joined by three [...]
Bounty Killer banned from Guyana
by Rex Wockner International News Authorities in the South American nation of Guyana have banned Jamaican singer Bounty Killer from performing there because his lyrics promote violence, including against gay people. The singer has experienced [...]
Euro Commission: OK to fire gays for religious reasons
by Rex Wockner International News In a case brought by Irish unions, the European Commission ruled that schools, hospitals and other institutions owned by religious bodies can discriminate against gay people in hiring and firing, [...]
Hong Kong regulator interfered with freedom of speech
by Rex Wockner International News Hong Kong's Broadcasting Authority wrongly restricted freedom of speech when it reprimanded Radio Television Hong Kong for airing a program called "Gay Lover," High Court Judge Michael Hartmann ruled May [...]
Malaysian police raid sauna
by Rex Wockner International News Police in Penang, Malaysia, raided a sauna May 10 and arrested 14 men and confiscated 1,800 condoms, the local Star newspaper reported. Six of the men were found naked in [...]
Moldovan pride parade thwarted by violent mob
by Rex Wockner International News The gay pride parade in Chisinau, Moldova, was canceled May 11 after the bus carrying the 60 marchers was halted by hundreds of screaming anti-gay protesters who tried to pry [...]
Gays sue Swedish tax authority
by Rex Wockner International News A Swedish gay couple who got married in Canada are pushing forward with their suit against Sweden's taxation agency for categorizing their union as a registered partnership instead of a [...]
Tel Aviv to erect monument to gays persecuted by Nazis
by Rex Wockner International News An official monument in memory of the gay men and women persecuted and murdered by the Nazis will be erected in Tel Aviv's Meir Garden, according to Ynet News. The [...]
California ruling shines hope for all LGBT people
It's the most populated, perhaps most diverse state in the U.S. It's known for being culturally and sociologically ahead of the times. And now, California and all of its 36 million citizens - not just [...]
For better or for worse at The Abreact
One characteristic of our small professional theaters that I find most appealing is their willingness to take risks. With lower overhead and often a different customer mix than their bigger-budget siblings, our storefront theaters are [...]
Sex, love, risks, laughs at The Ringwald
As gay men buried more and more of their friends and lovers who succumbed to AIDS in the late 1980s and early '90s, playwright Paul Rudnick wrote what has since been called "the first successful [...]
A work for the ladies, young and old alike
By D. A. Blackburn Last season, the folks at the Williamston Theatre came up with a unique prospect. They decided to depict life in the Midwest on their stage, and to do so, they'd need [...]
The ‘Nunsense’ continues at Meadow Brook Theatre
By D. A. Blackburn ROCHESTER - It's getting to be a habit, as Meadow Brook Theatre is gearing up to close its 2007-08 season with yet another "Nunsense" production. The seven-show franchise, which Alma-native Dan [...]
Focus: From traditional marriage to history of discrimination of gays
By Lisa Keen Very little attention has been given thus far to the several hidden punches in the California Supreme Court's gay marriage decision. The reaction to the decision, while decidedly widespread and significant, has [...]
State anti-gay hates crimes on the rise
DETROIT - Hate crimes in Michigan more than doubled in 2007 from the previous year's total, according to a report released Tuesday by the Triangle Foundation. The annual report, compiled with the cooperation of the [...]
Out to the ol’ ball game
by Jessica Carreras For some, family is - for better or worse - something you're born into. For others, it just depends on which softball team you join. The family that comprises Between The Lines, [...]