Dear Jody: While you were locked up …
Q: I have a dilemma that I don't know what to do about. My boyfriend went to prison two years ago, and we have been corresponding at least once a week. He is going in [...]
Norah Jones’ pretty (boring) latest, Pink joins the circus
Hear Me Out Norah Jones, "The Fall" Norah Jones is a big tease. All that talk about a rock remodel, an added oomph to her dozy ditties that might fend off the Red Bull? With [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente Neil Patrick Harris Santa visits Neil Patrick Harris As long as Neil Patrick Harris is already running Hollywood - at least that's how it seems these days - he might [...]
‘Precious’: From hell to hope
Mariah Carey plays a social worker in "Precious." Photo: Lionsgate The face of Clareece "Precious" Jones is gloomy and stone-cold. Frozen by years of unfathomable brutality, the tired-eyed Harlem teen struggles to find the [...]
The dark side (the other one)
The gays get a lot of love-hate in Lisa Lampanelli's memoir, "Chocolate, Please": "If it wasn't for gay guys, us fat chicks would have no friends." For a while there, Lisa Lampanelli - acidic-tongued [...]
Find inspiration, Pisces!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Venus in Scorpio aspecting a variety of outer planets suggests opportunities for sexual challenges and healing. Too often people equate that with "letting it all hang out." The opposite may [...]
Gender Benders
Across 1 They call balls 5 Hosp. workers 9 What comes out of your head 14 The Oscars, e.g. 15 Morales of "La Bamba" 16 Shoots in the mouth, at the dentist's office 17 Hurler [...]
MAAP-ping a fight against homophobia
By Dan Woog Steph Hoyer The OutField The University of Michigan is a sports-obsessed campus. Big Ten football and basketball games fill the stands; Wolverine paraphernalia can be found everywhere. Academically, one of the [...]
Your Rx for excess at the Studio Theatre
Kerianne Furgerson as Dolly, Robbie Dwight as Otto, Andrick Siegmund as Dr. Jason Pepper in "Dunelawn" at WSU's Studio Theatre. Photo: Janine M. Pixley DETROIT - Looking for a quick fix for a bad [...]
Broadway star to join University Theatre
Julie Murney comes to WMU's University Theatre for "Late Night Broadway." Broadway star Julia Murney comes to Kalamazoo this holiday season for "Late Night Broadway." Murney will be joined onstage by Western Michigan University [...]
An ‘Impossible Marriage’ at Ann Arbor Civic
Eric Bloch and Elizabeth Mowers in "Impossible Marriage." Photo: Ann Arbor Civic Theatre Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's Studio Series presents the quirky comedy "Impossible Marriage," directed by Sam Zwetchkenbaum and Jean Leverich, Dec. 4-12 [...]
Fine ensemble delivers holiday cheer at Go Comedy!
Time flies when you're having fun, which helps explain why it doesn't seem possible that Go Comedy! Improv Theater recently celebrated its first anniversary in Downtown Ferndale. Launched in the midst of a statewide economic [...]
Out of Town: Guadalajara, Mexico
by Andrew Collins Mexico's second-largest city, Guadalajara, delivers much of what visitors genuinely seek when visiting this country: mariachi and folk-music culture, fine tequila, authentic arts and crafts, superb regional cuisine, restored Spanish Colonial architecture, [...]
Australian Capital Territory legalizes same-sex unions
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Australia's Capital Territory has again legalized same-sex unions. Two previous attempts were overturned by the national government, which has cited a national law that bans legal statuses that mimic [...]
Same-sex marriage legalized in Buenos Aires
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs A judge legalized same-sex marriage in Buenos Aires on Nov. 13. Mayor Mauricio Macri quickly said he would not appeal the ruling, and a gay couple was given a [...]
Indian election officials recognize third gender
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Indian transgender and intersex people will no longer have to choose "male" or "female" when they vote, the Election Commission said Nov. 12. They can instead choose "O" for [...]
Iranian HIV stats released
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Iran's Health Ministry says that as of mid-October, a total of 20,130 Iranians have tested HIV positive, 2,097 people have been diagnosed with AIDS and 3,409 HIV-positive people have [...]
Protesters march on Uganda’s N.Y. mission
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs Around 50 gays and their supporters protested at Uganda's Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Nov. 19 against a draconian anti-gay bill pending in Uganda's Parliament. The legislation [...]
Activists target Turkish law
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs The Pink Life LGBT Solidarity Association in Ankara, Turkey, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission have teamed up to demand that Turkey's "Law of Misdemeanors" be [...]
Partner benefits bill advances in House
By Lisa Keen A House of Representatives committee on Nov. 18 evening approved a bill to provide equal benefits to gay federal employees with domestic partners, but not without a political slugfest first over whether [...]
Michigan World AIDS Day Calendar
The Names Quilt ceremonies at SSteppin' Out AIDS Walk Detroit this past September. Quilts will be on display around the state for World AIDS Day. BTL Photo: Jessica Carreras Ann Arbor University of Michigan [...]
Between Ourselves
by Jessica Carreras Reverend Kevin Kinsel Reverend Kevin Kinsel is the associate pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit. Rev. Kinsel and his sister, Mary Beth, will be hosting a World AIDS Day [...]
Let’s talk about AIDS
by Jessica Carreras Larry Bryant, HIV advocate with the national organization Housing Works. FERNDALE - There are over 18,500 people in Michigan living with HIV/AIDS. Last Wednesday, Nov. 18, many of them gathered at [...]
How is HIV transmitted?
Don't know all the facts about how you can and can't get HIV? Find out now through this quick guide from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention and spread the information - not [...]
Transmission truths
by Jessica Carreras When Michigan AIDS Coalition Executive Director Helen Hicks announced her thoughts about adopting an HIV-positive child to her friends, she was shocked at the response. "Our friends thought we were insane, saying, [...]
Transgender Detroit to hold annual potluck
Transgender Detroit is hosting the fourth annual TLGB Thanksgiving Potluck from 4-8 p.m. on Nov. 26. This annual event is designed for TLGB individuals who have no one else to spend the holiday with. Turkey [...]
Over 100 remembered
FERNDALE - As the names and stories of transgender murder victims cycled on video screens at each end of the room, over a hundred people mourned together in the Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit's ninth [...]
Support pours in for WAGS program.
Just in time for the holidays, two groups of volunteers have replenished the supplies and coffers for Wonderful Animals Giving Support, the program at the Michigan AIDS Coalition that provides support and supplies for the [...]
Houston mayoral race in virtual tie
By Lisa Keen Parker's real opposition at this point appears to be people who don't like gays, period. And some of them are claiming that Parker's candidacy - along with that of two other openly [...]
Breaking the fear
Fear is a powerful thing. It starts wars, makes or breaks legislation, creates rifts in families and societies and even holds us back from making those important phone calls or saying those important words. Fear [...]
Creep of the Week: Star Parker
Star Parker If gay marriage is legalized in Washington, D.C., then everyone will get AIDS. BAM! Just like that. Move along, nothing to see here, everybody's dead, especially Obama and it's all his fault [...]
Parting Glances: Stroll down Limbo Lane
Not too long ago. While browsing in a cluttered Ann Arbor bookstore. I spent $10 for a used paperback - no. 3 of Richard Lamparski's 11 volume series "Whatever became of...? My purchase, originally going [...]
S/he said: Chaz Bono, Jim Mohr, Elton John
Compiled by Howard Israel Chaz Bono "I believe that gender is something between your ears and not between your legs. It was just a long process of being comfortable enough to do something about [...]
Adam Lambert: Hypocrite much?
By Jennifer Vanasco Yes, Adam Lambert. You're right. Hip-hop artists and women get away with salacious performances all the time without an uproar. Of course, there was that famous Madonna-and-Britney kiss that caused a stir, [...]
Viewpoint: Building our wings
by Mike Coleman "Sometimes you just have to take the leap, and build your wings on the way down." - Kobi Yamada I had not been familiar with Kobi, and wasn't at all sure of [...]
Viewpoint: A lesson from dad
by Jessica Carreras Through my work at Between The Lines, I've met quite a few people who are HIV positive. However, I've never lost a family member, lover or close friend to the disease. So [...]
Calendar: Swell Season
Sent into the spotlight by the sweet tunes of the 2007 film "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova make up The Swell Season.
The White House: World AIDS Day 2009
The President of the United States of America - - - - - - - A PROCLAMATION Our Nation joins the world in celebrating the extraordinary advancements we have made in the battle against HIV [...]
Stop the slaughter!
by Malcolm Lazin Since Matthew Shepard's murder in 1998, there have been over 16,000 hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This represents about 1,450 annual sexual orientation and gender identity hate crimes. [...]
Confessions of a Creator
Frank Warren, creator of PostSecret, will visit Ann Arbor on Friday. Secrets - we all have them. Most stay locked away in the safety of our own heads, but many have found their way [...]
World AIDS Day at the White House
by Bob Roehr The Obama administration rolled out some of its biggest guns for World AIDS Day, but as has been the case before, it did not include the President himself or the Vice President. [...]
Marriage bill dies in N.Y. Senate
By Lisa Keen Sen. Tom Duane Following one of the most dramatic and emotional discourses thus far in the gay marriage debate, the New York Senate voted 24 to 38 Dec. 2 to reject [...]
Arcus Foundation grants $2.1 million to Kalamazoo College
BTL staff KALAMAZOO - Kalamazoo College has received a $2.1 million project grant from the Arcus Foundation to help launch the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership. The grant will fund the center's programming plans [...]