Dear Jody
Gay's OK ... without sex Q: My brother thinks that it is OK if I'm gay as long as I stay celibate, like not ever have a boyfriend or a sex life. He thinks he's [...]
Negative recruiting: positively wrong
By Dan Woog The OutField Imagine this: A college coach tells a high school prospect, "Don't go to (name of a rival school). There are lots of black people there." Ridiculous, right? Now replace "blacks" [...]
Creep of the Week: Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio
Last week the Pew Research Center released the results of a survey that found Americans caring a lot more about things related to their pocketbooks and mortgages than whether a guy was marrying another guy. [...]
Parting Glances: It beez that way sometimes
I can't count the times I've biked the Dequindre Cut recently. It's a mile and a quarter of get-away biking paths between Gratiot Avenue and the Detroit Riverwalk. When I bike, ideas pop highspeed into [...]
Viewpoint: Celebrating Memorial Day with pride
Being in Washington, D.C. on Memorial to celebrate Black Gay Pride is one of life's contradictions. Thousands of out and proud African-American gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer Americans celebrate our pride, while surrounded by [...]
Birmingham theater stages Stephen Sondheim musical
The Birmingham-based Village Players will present "Sunday in the Park with George," which opens May 29. This Stephen Sondheim musical, one of the most acclaimed productions of our time, is not often seen on local [...]
West Michigan Pride Calendar
May 31, Pride 5K and Pride Picnic at Riverside Park. Join the Grand Rapids Frontrunners & Walkers for their annual 5K run/walk, then stick around for the picnic; an afternoon of food, games and family [...]
Tori Amos is attracted to sin, Eminem roasts and relapses
Hear Me Out Tori Amos, 'Abnormally Attracted to Sin' Tori Amos is a mommy to millions on her 10th studio LP, attempting to quench all her kids - the cultish clique (formally Toriphiles) that worship [...]
Wade-ing it out
by Jessica Carreras He survived growing up gay in the Ozarks. He worked jobs that would make most mental institution-bound. Now, in his third book, "At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: [...]
Bye bye, boyfriend
By Rohin Guha This past TV season was overflowing with dashing fictitious heroes of every stripe and stroke, from Adam Lambert to Jack Bauer. Be they gentlemen you'd take home to meet your mother or [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente Jackman: More musicals, more 'Wolverine' Perhaps no Hollywood leading man since James Cagney has been able to balance tough-guy roles and musical-comedy chops as easily as Hugh Jackman. And his upcoming [...]
Make a list, Aries!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes On May 31, after three weeks retrograde, Mercury turns direct in Taurus, offering a chance to clean up messes that have recently erupted. He's aspecting Venus and Eris, both in [...]
Why We Recruit
Q Puzzle Across 1 Freudian undergarment? 5 Exams for srs. 9 It could blow up in your mouth, in a gag 14 Leaning erection site 15 Eat up, with "down" 16 Cell terminal 17 Arab [...]
Lobby Days are crucial, a merger is not
Thank you, Between the Lines, for publicizing and covering the All American Lobby Day. We truly appreciate all the newspaper has done to help keep LGBT youth in schools safe from bullying. However, we are [...]
Kurzawa exhibit to open at Affirmations
FERNDALE - When Affirmations unexpectedly pulled a gallery exhibit from its walls two weeks ago, it sparked a conversation amongst community members about what should be hung on the entrance walls of a nearly-public community [...]
A smear in the rear
By Anthony Martinez Beven Ask Dr. Paul Benson, a Berkley-based general practitioner, about anal cancer and you'll learn some things you didn't know - mainly that the incidence rate among gay men greatly exceeds that [...]
Between Ourselves
by Jessica Carreras Ann Cox is a a board member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. Part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the church specializes in outreach to the lesbian, gay, [...]
Tom Frieden Named to Lead CDC
by Bob Roehr President Barack Obama named New York City health commissioner Thomas R. Frieden the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 15. The dynamic Frieden has generated controversy [...]
Substance abuse recovery program targets neglected demographic
DETROIT - It's a program for a population that is often dismissed and disenfranchised. Since 2006, Guiding Light Sober Living has been providing recovery services for MSMs who are HIV-positive or at risk for HIV. [...]
Anti-bias crimes legislation OK’d by state House lawmakers
LANSING - In a near party-line vote, the Democratic-controlled Michigan House earlier on Wednesday approved two measures to address bias crimes - commonly referred to as hate crimes. The vote for both bills was 66 [...]
Kofi in Koncert
Dr. Kofi Adoma, board member and co-founder of the Ruth Ellis Center, will be performing at the center on May 31 from 3-5 p.m. Adoma, who is known for her work in Michigan's LGBT community [...]
New Hampshire House balks
By Lisa Keen The New Hampshire Senate passed it; the governor was standing by to sign it; and many expected approval of a final same-sex marriage bill in the House last week could be swift [...]
National LGBTQ Youth Awareness Week starts May 25
The five-day long National LGBTQ Youth Awareness Week is this week, with a different theme to address various issues each day. The week was designed to highlight some of the significant issues faced by today's [...]
Awardees announced for Pride Banquet
This week, the Pride Banquet Committee announced the 2009 awardees for the 24th Annual Pride Banquet and Awards Ceremony, celebrating the outstanding achievement of people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied communities in [...]
A win, and a much bigger loss
by Lisa Keen In one of the most anticipated court decision in the past five years, the California Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that the state's anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment Proposition 8 was valid law, but [...]
Local gay artist elected to Scarab Club Board
by BTL Staff Community artist and Between The Lines Parting Glances columnist Charles Alexander has been elected to the board of directors of the prestigeous Scarab Club for artists, photographers, sculptors, poets, musicians, patrons and [...]
Obama names Supreme Court pick
By Lisa Keen President Obama today nominated federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the seat being vacated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Sotomayor (pronounced soh-toh-my-YOR), 54, is widely seen as a [...]
Baltic Pride succeeds in Riga
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs City officials in Riga, Latvia, granted permission for a gay pride parade, then rescinded it, then were overruled by a court. In the end, around 600 people from 20 [...]
Council of Europe supports IDAHO
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs The Secretary General of the Council of Europe issued a strongly supportive statement in conjunction with the May 17 International Day Against Homophobia. "Today, being a homosexual will no [...]
Gays march in Havana
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Hundreds of gays marched in Havana on May 16 to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. It was the first gay march in Cuba's history. They were led by [...]
Anti-gays attack police at Krakow pride parade
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Anti-gay protesters attacked police at the gay pride parade in Krakow, Poland, May 16. One person was injured and 20 counterdemonstrators were arrested. The anti-gays threw eggs, bottles and [...]
Police smash Moscow pride for fourth year
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs For the fourth year in a row, riot police broke up an attempt to stage a gay pride parade in Moscow on May 16, arresting up to 80 participants, [...]
Ukrainian city bans pride festival
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs The City Council and a court in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, banned the gay "Rainbow Spring 2009" festival in mid-May. The cultural and sports festival was sponsored by the Dutch Ministry [...]
Peru bans gay cops
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Peru's Interior Ministry announced May 13 that it is banning gays from being police officers. It said cops who have sex with people of the same sex "cause scandal" [...]
Singapore gays stage first rally
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Singaporean gays held their first-ever public rally May 16. Some 2,500 people took part in the event at "Speaker's Corner," a new free-speech zone in a local park. The [...]
Prop. 8: Saddened, but not surprised – or defeated
The collectively held breath was let out Tuesday morning when the California Supreme Court decision finally came. Proposition 8 will be upheld, but so will the 18,000 or more marriages performed during the few months [...]
Late night ‘Trainspotting’ at The Ringwald
FERNDALE -Who Wants Cake? Theatre is thrilled to present its next late night venture, Harry Gibson's stage adaptation of Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting," for an exclusive four-week run at Ferndale's The Ringwald Theatre from May 29 [...]
EMU Theatre goes happily ‘Into the Woods’
YPSILANTI - Once upon a time, a songwriter named Stephen Sondheim and a playwright named James Lapine created a musical tale about what happens after "happily ever after". It wasn't long before their story, "Into [...]
FYT presents family-friendly classic tales
FLINT - Flint Youth Theatre welcomes award-winning, national touring company The Paul Mesner Puppets in "The Stinky Cheese Man." Based on the Caldecott Award-winning book by Flint native Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith and adapted [...]
Other show openings: this week and next
MAGENTA GIRAFFE THEATRE COMPANY: As part of its mission "to reestablish and expand Detroit's theatre district," Magenta Giraffe has chosen plays by Michigan natives or current Michigan residents to stage as part of a festival [...]
Amsterdam, Netherlands
by Andrew Collins Out of Town Few European locales have more to offer lesbian and gay travelers than the remarkably forward-thinking and tolerant city of Amsterdam. Even better, a combination of consistently reasonable airfares, direct [...]