Pride across the generations
By Dana Rudolph Mombian "There's a huge difference between being gay and being trans," says LGBT activist and parent Marti Abernathey. Many would agree, but Abernathey has a rare perspective: She is transgender, but has [...]
Creep of the Week: Steve Hotze
It should come as no surprise that the Conservative Republicans of Texas isn't exactly celebrating last month's California Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex couples marrying. What does come as some surprise is how [...]
Parting Glances: Odds on coming out!
My favorite coming out story concerns a computer hacker -- actually a brilliant graphic designer -- named Dennis who works in California for a publisher of science texts. We chanced to meet at Motor City [...]
She/He Said
compiled by Howard Israel "This bill signals the end of gender-specific restrooms, allowing men to go into women's bathrooms, putting them and their children in danger. Henceforth, every woman and little girl will have to [...]
The Gay (Im)moralist?
by John Corvino The Gay Moralist When strangers stare at me across a bar, I like to imagine it's because they find me attractive. More often than not, however, it's because they recognize me from [...]
The Hardest Thing
by Sean Kosofsky All Politics is Loco By now most of you know that I have decided to leave Michigan this summer to follow my partner to North Carolina to help him start his career. [...]
Remember – it’s all about the rabbit!
By Robert Bethune Literary types can have a field day with Paula Vogel's "The Baltimore Waltz," now in production at the Blackbird Theatre. One of my favorite theses is that every good comedy is about [...]
Teen tale touches fellow ‘Band Fag’
I loved "Band Fags!" Yes, Frank Anthony Polito's first novel, a semi-autobiographical tale about a teenage boy growing up in Hazel Park and struggling with his sexual identity, touched me in a way few books [...]
‘Band Fags!’ explores growing up gay in ’80s Hazel Park
Growing up as a gay teenager in the 1980s wasn't easy - especially when you lived in a working-class suburb commonly referred to as Hazeltucky. Yet not only did Frank Anthony Polito survive those angst-filled [...]
Book Marks
By Richard Labonte "Map of Ireland," by Stephanie Grant. Scribner, 208 pages, $22 hardcover. Sixteen-year-old Ann Ahern, her freckled face a "map of Ireland," is defiantly attracted to neighborhood girls. She also has quite a [...]
Aunt Cyndi
Cyndi Lauper doesn't want to scare you. So, when she bebops into Michigan for the True Colors Tour sequel, those bright-and-blinding '80s get-ups - what she calls her "own personal museum pieces" - aren't escaping [...]
Tipping Point Theatre remounts inaugural production of farcical ‘Don’t Dress for Dinner’
NORTHVILLE - Tipping Point Theatre (TPT), metro Detroit's newest professional theater company, will remount its inaugural production of the stage farce "Don't Dress for Dinner." Written by Marc Camoletti and adapted by Robin Hawdon, "Don't [...]
You Oughta Know
Rachael Sage's brief stint with a married man sounds like a blueprint for a bad country song - or a pissy Alanis rock rant. But, nope, the angelic-voiced pianist, whose latest self-produced album drops June [...]
Billy Masters
Clay Aiken to be a daddy, Al Reynolds to spill beans about Star break-up "It's written by guys who happen to be gay, who are sluts! That's what I think." - Gap-toothed Lauren Hutton gives [...]
“Take bold risks, Aquarius!”
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Everyone is being just a bit too fabulous for words! Mercury is retrograde, so his alignment with Venus and the Sun is a bit more like a collision of verbosity [...]
‘Remembering Rauschenberg’
Q Puzzle Across 1 Area of expertise for Ted Allen 5 Screenwriter John, of "Sweeney Todd" 10 "Yeah, right!" 14 Composer Stravinsky 15 Acid head? 16 Drag queen's leg scraper 17 Try to seduce 18 [...]
Avenging the death of Shannon Holihan
By Jim Larkin FLINT - Shannon D. Holihan was 31 years old, had the job of his life and the car of his dreams when his partially-clothed body was found in the parking lot of [...]
NY Governor: No gay exception on marriage recognition
By Lisa Keen Keen News Service It was published on the front page of the New York Times and seen on television news broadcasts everywhere. So New York Gov. David Paterson's directive that state agencies [...]
HIV vaccine research refocuses on gay men
by Bob Roehr Bethesda, MD. - The next HIV vaccine trial will focus exclusively on gay men in the U.S. This represents a dramatic restructuring of what initially was planned as a far more ambitious [...]
Gay news from the presidential campaign trail
Keen on the trail By Lisa Keen Keen News Service HRC LAUNCHES MAC ATTACK: The Human Rights Campaign is wasting no time in taking sides in the November general election. On Tuesday morning, even before [...]
Building the bridges of diversity
by Jessica Carreras If ever someone wondered how to let go of their problems, the Triangle Foundation, S.P.I.C.E., the Black Pride Society and the Affirmations Community Center gave them an answer: Burn them and walk [...]
Couples wed in front of City Hall
FERNDALE - Following a night of rain and thunder the sun broke through the crowds to shine over the 8th annual Commitment Ceremony held in front of Ferndale's City Hall. At the event, which is [...]
‘Power in numbers’
by Jessica Carreras If the forecast for Michigan's LGBT community has been cloudy, you couldn't tell last Sunday in Ferndale. There, on a breezy, beautiful spring day, the sun was shining - both literally and [...]
Pride – for better or worse
Walking down Woodward Avenue last weekend, it was hard to ignore the feeling in the air. It was more than just another festival or one of thousands of gay pride celebrations worldwide. It was bigger [...]
Theater: alive, well and sizzling in June
Summer has unofficially arrived, and most theaters are currently enjoying some well-earned rest and relaxation. Theater lovers shouldn't despair, however, as several producers are keeping their stages and central air systems sizzling for the next [...]
Making homelessness ever so homey
By Robert Bethune "Moonshine Alley" by Peter Campbell, a world premiere at Detroit Repertory Theatre, is a rather charming and sometimes witty play about a couple of comfortably pleasing eccentrics who live on the streets. [...]