Dear Jody
Family visit, or free Bed & Breakfast? Q: I have an issue with my current live-in girlfriend. "Sara" and I have been living together for three years. Last year we decided to buy a house [...]
What a year in Kalamazoo
by Terry Kuseske Viewpoint Editor's note: We invited Terry Kuseske to share with BTL readers how KAFE achieved their success in passing an Equal Rights Ordinance in Kalamazoo which took effect Dec. 11. Where and [...]
Sister’s bra 5Ks Madoff
I usually spend New Year's Eve alone. Just for old time's sake. Yes, hard to admit - popular raconteur and egad-about Spell Checker that I am - I sit in my art studio with a [...]
Creep of the Year: Sen. John McCain
To borrow from Julie Andrews, if I may: "How do you solve a problem like [McCain]?" You kick his ass in a national election, that's how. It feels good to know that I speak for [...]
10 best beats you’ve (probably) never heard – but should
By Jessica Carreras Unpopular pop, under-the-radar punk and unknown Brit rockers - an alternative list of loves for those who dare to be different. 1. Bloc Party, 'Intimacy' Love is a beautiful thing. One listen [...]
Best beats of ’08
Call it the Year of the Diva, or the Year I Became Just That Much Gayer. But how could you not feel overcome by big-female artist albums? Madonna, Mariah, Kylie, Celine, Cyndi - the list [...]
Toot your horn, Taurus!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Jupiter is starting his yearlong passage through Aquarius, where he inspires new visions of freedom and scientific exploration. This mini "age of Aquarius" is a year of great luck to [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente Shankman Sails with "Sinbad" From big screen confections like "Hairspray" to the subversive online delight "Prop. 8: The Musical," gay director Adam Shankman thrives on spectacle. So it's a no-brainer that [...]
East Lansing goes blonde
EAST LANSING - Sorority star Elle Woods doesn't take "no" for an answer. So when her boyfriend dumps her for someone more "serious," Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out [...]
Now Playing
NEW THIS WEEK Bedtime Stories Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) is a maintenance man in a luxury hotel slated for expansion. That expansion, however, will take place at the expense of his niece and nephew's elementary [...]
Being black at Big Green
By Dan Woog The OutField Jamal Brown spent four years at Dartmouth College running, studying, and trying to figure out where he felt most comfortable: in its small gay community, or its equally tiny African-American [...]
Tail Twister
Q Puzzle Across 1 Gay horror writer Perry 6 Release from bondage 11 Be in the hole 14 Writer Wystan Hugh 15 Lincoln Center's Walter ___ Theater 16 Brown's " ___ Dirt" 17 Othello in [...]
Val Emmich: Television’s newest ‘hunk du jour’
By Peter Galvin {SUBHEAD 'Ugly Betty' actor and musician talks about being dorky character's crush - and ours} Val Emmich is truly a jack of many trades and has proven himself a master of anything [...]
Reflecting on good eats, great memories
I wanted to drop a note and say Kudos on this week's cover with Peter Mel ("You Can't Stop The Pete," BTL Dec. 25). I am so happy Mr. Mel is enjoying success in a [...]
Congrats to Triangle ED Skillman
Dignity Detroit is pleased to congratulate Alicia Skillman in being named executive director of Triangle Foundation. In almost 20 years of advocacy in the community, Triangle has been a bedrock in striving for LGBT equality [...]
Failed anti-bullying laws to be reintroduced
BTL Staff report The Republican majority in control of the Michigan Senate refused to allow anti-bullying legislation to be voted on before the legislative session ended last month. By rule, the legislation is now dead [...]
Political Organizer Phil Volk
by Jessica Carreras Phil Volk is the lead organizer for the Washtenaw County Democratic Party's LGBT Interest Group. A long-time Democratic activist, Volk is focusing his post-election energy on pushing important LGBT rights issues in [...]
CARES honors compassionate artists in contest
by Jessica Carreras Earlier this month, the Community AIDS Resource and Education Services organization hosted their annual World AIDS Day juried art contest, centered each year on a different theme related to HIV/AIDS. This year's [...]
East Lansing joins national call for marriage equality
EAST LANSING - Advocates and allies for marriage equality in Michigan will come together this week in solidarity with others around the nation to hold President-elect Barack Obama to his word and to speak out [...]
New Kalamazoo Equal Rights Ordinance under attack
KALAMAZOO- Less than one month after the City of Kalamazoo Commission voted 7-0 to adopt an expanded human rights ordinance that makes it illegal to use sexual orientation to discriminate in housing, public accomodations and [...]
Ohio Supreme Court allows lesbian moms’ custody agreement to stand
Columbus, OH - The Supreme Court of Ohio last week let stand an appeals court ruling affirming the enforceability of a court-approved child custody agreement in a case involving lesbian mothers. "The Court has expressly [...]
Send Pastor Rick Warren your story
BTL staff On Dec. 30, Faith In America called upon all Americans - gay and straight - to send Pastor Rick Warren their own personal stories of how religion-based bigotry and prejudice toward gay and [...]
Transition matters
By Lisa Keen Keen News Service STEP UP TO PAR: The transition team of President-elect Barack Obama on Monday, Jan. 5 announced the appointment of an openly gay man, Bradley J. Kiley, as director of [...]
Giving against the odds
by Jessica Carreras Like many other Michiganders this year, John Secor got the call on Sept. 2: he was out of a job. An editor and writer in the newspaper industry for many years, Secor [...]
A vision for Michigan
by Jessica Carreras Alicia Skillman isn't giving up on Michigan. Instead, with a new year, the new executive director of the Triangle Foundation is ushering in a new era for the LGBT community - one [...]
New year, new outlook
2009 is not a year for whiners. With all the negative buzz lately surrounding the Rick Warren decision by Obama, the failure of the Matt's Safe Schools and the second parent adoption bills in Michigan [...]
Theaters struggle, but innovate in 2008
As the credit, banking, housing and auto industries crashed and burned in 2008, Michigan's performing arts troupes proved once again that when times get tough, theaters innovate. And while rumors of impending doom swirled throughout [...]
Rising to the challenge, falling into line
By D. A. Blackburn Every performer dreams of their big break, a chance to shine under the bright lights and revel in the applause of an enormous crowd. This January, the Fisher Theatre brings to [...]
Best books of ’08
by Richard Labonte Book Marks At this time last year, two major gay-interest publishers - Harrington Park Press and Carroll & Graf - were defunct, and smaller queer presses were reeling from the financial fallout [...]
Gay in Numbers
4: The percent-per-year rate in which HIV infection in the metro Detroit area has risen between 2002 and 2006, as reported by The Michigan Department of Community Health. 40: The annual HIV infection rate is [...]
BEST-OF BTL STAR INTERVIEWS
"The last time we played Detroit at the Magic Stick, I stumbled upon a used record store where I bought a record that still hangs in the middle of my kitchen wall today." - Amanda [...]
2008 with Jerry & St. Pete
by Sister Serena Scatterpin, RSM When Rev. Jerry Falwell entered heaven, 2008, planet earth was suddenly 300 pounds lighter, though few at Weight Watchers or Manpower Gyms of America took any particular notice. Jerry was [...]
Best quotes of 2008
"I'm proud to be a woman, I'm proud to be a black woman and I'm proud to be gay." - Wanda Sykes, comedian and actress, came out publicly while addressing a rally in Las Vegas, [...]
2008 timeline
by Jessica Carreras Jan. 9: The Ruth Ellis Center receives a $366,000 federal grant toward programming. The acquisition is punctuated by a visit by Michigan's U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, and National Gay and Lesbian Task [...]
California same-sex marriage ban report questions election day exit poll results regarding black voters
by Bob Roehr Party identification, ideology, religiosity and age were the factors most likely to determine how a person voted on Proposition 8, California's initiative that, when passed in the Nov. 4 election, banned same-sex [...]
Michigan announces $1.4 million in abstinence-only education programs
Photo: James McCurtis, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Community Health BTL Capitol Reporter LANSING - The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) on Wednesday announced $1.4 million in grants to nine groups for abstinence-only [...]