Hate Crimes and Congressional Farce
By Diane Silver Political IQ Get ready to laugh. I'm going to lead you through the twists and turns of one of the most ridiculous places known to humankind: the U.S. Congress. The purpose of [...]
Dear Jody: What’s up with her big mouth?
What's up with her big mouth? Q: I just moved across the country to this area six months ago. I have no family here, and it has been hard to find friends. But I did [...]
Parting Glances: Give me a hug anytime!
I don't recall growing up as a kid and getting or giving hugs. Hugs were not part of our family life. I also don't recall as a teenager getting or giving hugs to other gay [...]
Creep of the Week: Maggie Gallagher
When beauty queen Miss California Carrie Prejean stood up at the Miss USA pageant and declared her support for "opposite marriage" I personally thought, "Who cares?" I mean, the fact that people got so angry [...]
The Sex Shack
The B-52s (from left) Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson will perform at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at DTE Energy Music Theatre. The B-52s 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 DTE Energy Music [...]
Book Marks: Reviews of ‘The Creamsickle’, ‘The 38 Million Dollar Smile’, and more
by Richard Labonte "The Creamsickle," by Rhiannon Argo. Spinsters Ink, 268 pages, $14.95 paper. Bois, boards, baby butches and bed hopping: Argo's angsty fiction debut, centered on the shenanigans of a crew of gender-fluid young [...]
DVD Lowdown: Double meat-ure
A double dose of cutie-patooties - Paul Rudd goes gaga for a guy in "I Love You, Man," and "17 Again" stars Zac Efron, who goes back to school - in the same week? Someone [...]
Cocktail Chatter: Ice, Ice, Crabby Baby
By Camper English "May I see your ice?" I heard myself asking the airport lounge bartender this, while realizing I sounded like a complete bar snob. (I am, of course, but I prefer silent condemnation [...]
The Dating Diet: Two of farts
By Anthony Paull Dad thinks it's OK if he farts in my face, because he's recovering from heart surgery and that's just part of my new full-time job as his personal assistant. You see, it's [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente 'Stargate' lesbians in space! The new series "Stargate Universe" will boldly explore a hitherto unexamined corner of TV's sci-fi landscape by including two principal lesbian characters. Ming Na ("ER") and Reiko [...]
Be clear, Cancer!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Chiron and Eris are all in a lovely basket of harmonies, boosting energy, flamboyance, generosity and teamwork, but Saturn will have to intrude at hard angles! Take [...]
From Ellen’s Commencement Speech
Across 1 Some G.M. cars 5 It comes out of your head 9 t.A.T.u., e.g. 13 Gallo portrayer in "And the Band Played On" 14 Olympic medalist Louganis 15 Weight loss product 16 Ellen: "When [...]
Scene Check @ Rainbow Room …
1. Haley, Michelle and Michael 2. Nikki and Tim 3. Brad, Jordan and Peter 4. Miss Classic, Garnet January and Miss Amateur, Lucy Fire BTL photos: Danielle
Correction
In the Aug. 6 article "On the grow," Andrea Wilson was quoted as the executive director of S.P.I.C.E. This is incorrect. Wilson is the interim board chair.
Amsterdam mayor marries binational couples
by Rex Wockner Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen married five binational gay couples on a boat during the gay pride canal parade Aug. 1. The couples were purposefully composed of one Dutch citizen and one resident [...]
Australians march for same-sex marriage
by Rex Wockner A National Day of Action for Same-Sex Marriage saw demonstrations Aug. 1 in the Australian cities of Sydney, Melbourne (pictured), Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Lismore. Photo provided by Equal Love [...]
European human rights commissioner publishes transphobia report
by Rex Wockner Council of Europe member states should do more to stop transphobia and discrimination against transgender people, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, said July 29 in an "expert [...]
Portuguese ban on same-sex marriage upheld
by Rex Wockner Portugal's Constitutional Court declined to strike down the ban on same-sex marriage July 31 in a 3-2 ruling. In a case brought by lesbian couple Teresa Pires and Helena Paixão, the court [...]
Romania enacts discriminatory laws
by Rex Wockner Romanian President Traian Basescu has signed a new Civil Code enacted by Parliament that discriminates against gay people. Ironically, Article 30 of the new code bans discrimination based on sexual orientation even [...]
World reacts to Tel Aviv shooting
by BTL Staff TEL AVIV - An estimated 70,000 people gathered at Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Aug. 8 to mourn the deaths of Nir Katz, 26, and Liz Troubishi, 16, who were killed in [...]
Between Ourselves: Cleney Matlock
by Jessica Carreras Cleney Matlock is the most recent addition to the team at the Ruth Ellis Center. There, since April of this year, she has served as a Life Coach and Drop-in Center Manager [...]
Staying afloat
by Jessica Carreras In June, Common Language bookstore announced that it may have to close. However, community support has caused business to flourish and hopefully, create a sustainable business once more. BTL file photo. [...]
Detroit City Council shapes up to be very LGBT-friendly
'The only thing that we can do is ask Detroiters to vote for us to get on the council. We're just going to campaign hard and campaign smart and pray that our message resonates with [...]
Kick opens registration for Help and Heal summer session
Summer sessions for Help and Heal, the faith-based support and action group for HIV-positive African American men, begin Aug. 13. Help and Heal is a sub-group of Kick, the Detroit-based LGBT non-profit organization for people [...]
Upcoming events for Steppin’ Out
A kick-off party for Steppin' Out and AIDS Walk Detroit will be held Aug. 20 at Pronto! restaurant. The event will take place all day and will feature Steppin' Out staff and board members who [...]
Triangle works to reopen west Michigan office
by Jessica Carreras Following the announcement of receiving a $500,000 grant from Kalamazoo-based philanthropic group the Arcus Foundation, the Triangle Foundation has elaborated on several plans for the money - including one that should make [...]
Building ‘bridges of love’
People wave the gay community and Israeli flags as they gather for a rally in solidarity with victims of last week's gay youth club attack at Rabin's square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 8, [...]
ENDA introduced in Senate
By Lisa Keen An inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act is now on the move in the U.S. Senate. Long-time sponsor Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced the bill on Aug. 5 along with Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) [...]
Sotomayor confirmed to high court
By Lisa Keen Sonia Sotomayor The U.S. Senate confirmed on Aug. 6 the appointment of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court, with many Democrats emphasizing her credentials as a "moderate" and [...]
Gay businesses still need our support
On the Human Rights Campaign's Web site, there is a bar graph showing the change in the number of employers with a 100 percent rating from the organization's Corporate Equality Index, which measures how LGBT-friendly [...]
Text ur friends: ‘Kwame’ is back w/laughs
By D. A. Blackburn No scandal in Novi: 'Kwame a River 2: The Wrath of Conyers' is now open for laughs. Photo: Andiamo Novi Theatre It's not often that one arrives at a theater [...]
‘I Cain’t Say No’ to Encore’s ‘Oklahoma!’
Oh, what a beautiful production of 'Oklahoma!' Photo: The Encore Musical Theatre I suspect most theater critics would never admit this, but the musical "Oklahoma!" holds a special place in my heart. Sure, by [...]
Stuffing the box: 14 plays (and two critics) at ‘BoxFest ’09’
'BoxFest Detroit '09' celebrates women directors through Aug. 22. Photo: Boxfest Since 2004, women thespians throughout Southeast Michigan have joined together to stage an annual festival of plays to showcase the work of female [...]