Case of The Missing Cardinal
As Sherlock Holmes once said to his lifetime partner Dr. John Watson, "John Old Topper, there's a mystery afoot about the whereabouts of the body of our friend Cardinal John Henry Newman." For those PG [...]
The Sad Truth About Gays and the Economy
By Diane Silver Political IQ I'm not feeling particularly rich these days. Every time the Dow Jones average plunges and new unemployment figures are released, my stomach churns. I go into terror mode as I [...]
The boxes we fit
by John Corvino Recent discussions of various civil union proposals have revived some familiar questions, including "Why limit such recognition to couples, as opposed to larger groups?" and "Why limit it to romantic/sexual couples, as [...]
Pope Benedict XVI
You know what Africans love? AIDS. Getting it, spreading it - doesn't matter. It's their favorite thing. I mean, it must be, right? Because why else would the HIV/AIDS rate be so high over there? [...]
Book Marks
by Richard Labonte "The Torturer's Wife," by Thomas Glave. City Lights Books, 268 pages, $15.95 paper. Few of the nine short stories in Glave's second collection are explicitly queer. But his themes are universal: the [...]
Hear Me Out
Indigo Girls, 'Poseidon and the Bitter Bug' Even with some solid solo projects, there's still nothing quite like Emily Saliers and Amy Ray: The Lesbian Yin-Yang. Those rich harmonies? Hard to live without. They're in [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence put the fun in 'Funeral' When Romeo first reported on the proposed Chris Rock-led American version of the outrageous British farce "Death at a Funeral," it [...]
I Love You, ‘Man’
Even straight guys need a man, as Peter Klaven (the loveable Paul Rudd), who needs groomsmen to stand up in his wedding, finds out in the hilariously homo-ish "I Love You, Man." The concept - [...]
Saving the earth one song at a time
There was a lot of carpooling involved in the making of Lansing duo Nervous but Excited's seventh release. During the year it took to write and record "anchors: {the green album}," which drops April 7, [...]
A drink by any other name
By Camper English Cocktail Chatter Even if I enjoyed having a Sex on the Beach (the drink), I would probably feel too embarrassed to order one in public. Luckily my aversion to peach schnapps precludes [...]
You are everyone’s darling, Aries
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Mercury, Venus, and the Sun are aligning in Aries bringing together charming, witty banter and mad, impulsive flirtations. Venus is retrograde so be careful with those flirtations. They're not likely [...]
Harvey of Human Kindness
Q Puzzle Across 1 Sean, who played the lead in 67-Across 5 Lover's quarrels 10 TV show, e.g. 14 Two-toned cookie 15 Muscle Mary's tummy toughener 16 "Desert of the Heart" author 17 Moisten with [...]
Obama reverses Bush opposition to UN declaration
by Rex Wockner The administration of President Barack Obama has reversed a decision by the administration of former President George W. Bush and added the United States' signature to a pro-gay declaration delivered in the [...]
Blue Cross nixes coverage of gender reassignment surgery
A broad coalition of organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, The National Association of Social Workers, Transgender Michigan and others are condemning a move by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to eliminate coverage [...]
Between Ourselves: Program Coordinator Kevin Correa
by Jessica Carreras Kevin Correa has worked at the Spectrum Center at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus since 2005. The 27-year-old Ann Arbor resident is also a graduate of the school, and a [...]
Affirmations hits a home run with first-ever LGBT sports fair
FERNDALE - For years, Andrea Sorenson of Ortonville sat on the sidelines while her uncle Jeff Seconder batted for the Genuine Chiropractic team of the Metro Detroit Softball League. She's been the team's scorekeeper for [...]
Transgender Day of Visibility plans erupt locally, nationwide
by Jessica Carreras Rachel Crandall admits it - she is a Facebook addict. But sometimes, like when starting up the first ever International Transgender Day of Visibility, that's a great thing to be. "I went [...]
Motown gets down with Affirmations
by Jessica Carreras DETROIT - If the economy is hurting Affirmations, their annual big bash celebration didn't show it. On Saturday, March 21, the Ferndale LGBT community center hosted the 10th annual night of dinner, [...]
Homophobic bullying is ‘rife’ in British schools
by Rex Wockner A YouGov survey of more than 2,000 primary and secondary school teachers has revealed that homophobic bullying affects more than just the 150,000 gay pupils in British schools, the gay lobby group [...]
HRW: Cayman Islands should protect gays
by Rex Wockner The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, should revise a draft constitution that will be submitted to voters May 20 to ensure it protects everyone from unequal treatment, and the British government [...]
Denmark OKs gay adoption
by Rex Wockner Denmark, which enacted the world's first same-sex civil union law in 1989, extended adoption rights to gay couples March 17. Parliamentarians voted for the measure 62-53, with 64 legislators not present. The [...]
International News Briefs: CoE, HRW: Serbia needs to protect gays
by Rex Wockner Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's human-rights commissioner, said March 11 that Serbia is doing a bad job of protecting gay people. "Discriminatory statements made by political figures and the media go [...]
Longtime member of Black and White Men Together dies
Le Roy Scott, who was best known for his involvement with LGBT group Black and White Men Together, as well as for his work with Unlimited Seniors, died March 23 of natural causes. He was [...]
Poverty in the LGBT community
Bob Roehr There are "many reasons to think that LGBT people are at least as likely - and perhaps more likely - to experience poverty" than their heterosexual counterparts, according to the first report ever [...]
Lansing Community College to hold transgender clip show
The Gay Straight Alliance at Lansing Community College will be showing clips of television shows and movies that have transgender characters. A discussion will later be had on the issue. The event, held 4-6 p.m. [...]
Community mourns the loss of a political giant
LANSING - Former State Rep. Aldo Vagnozzi (D-Farmington Hills) has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 83. The Italian immigrant served not only in the state House, but as mayor of Farmington Hills, as well [...]
Make history happen with Transgender Day of Visibility
There's no argument anymore over whether or not Facebook and other social networking Web sites are a viable means to community organizing, planning events and connecting within a community. But every once in a while, [...]
Attend, enjoy the ballad of Sweeney Todd
It's no secret to regular readers of Curtain Calls and my blog that "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" ranks near (or, depending on which day it is, at) the top of my [...]
MBT’s latest journey ‘bountiful’ but slow
By D. A. Blackburn As the old saying goes, you can't go home again. Or, at least in the case of an elderly widow named Carrie Watts, you can - but your children will conspire [...]
UDM’s ‘3 Penny Opera’ a few cents short
By D. A. Blackburn With a philandering brute central to all the action, rampant poverty on the streets and deep-rooted corruption at every turn, it's easy to draw comparisons between the Victorian London of "The [...]
Satire spoofs Broadway favorites
There's no business like show business when it comes to subject matter ripe for satirizing, and that's precisely what Gerard Alessandrini has made baskets of money doing since his "Forbidden Broadway" first opened in 1982. [...]