Dear Jody: Now that we’re over…
Now that we're over ... Q: I got dumped by my girlfriend, "Leslie," and I really have no idea why. Leslie and I have been dating for seven months. Really, Jody, I don't have a [...]
Queeries: What to do about uninvited kids at a gay party?
By Steven Petrow Q: I was completely shocked when two of our gay friends showed up for a dinner party with their twins in tow. I hadn't mentioned kids in the invitation and the table [...]
Cocktail Chatter: Gearing up for housemates season
by Ed Sikov "They eat grasshoppers there." This came from Kyle, one of "the puppies," as the rest of us called them behind their backs. "You moron! It's cicadas!" - the inevitable put-down by Robbie, [...]
Book Marks: The Moonlit Earth, Bobby Blanchard, Lesbian Gym Teacher
by Richard Labonte "The Moonlit Earth," by Christopher Rice. Scribner, 368 pages, $25 hardcover. Terrorist bombings, family secrets, sibling conflicts, corruptive wealth, maze-like conspiracies, a closeted 18-year-old Muslim scion and a handsome homo flight attendant: [...]
Happy Holliday
by Salvatore Sapienza It's not every day - or even every decade, for that matter - that a living legend of American musical theater comes to perform in West Michigan, so it's a tremendous coup [...]
Toni Braxton finds her ‘Pulse’
Toni Braxton's loving the ladies. Regardless of lesbian rumors that swirled around years ago, the R&B singer who rode a massive wave to superstardom with the ubiquitous mid-'90s ballad "Un-Break My Heart" isn't ashamed to [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente Diane Keaton blogging for HBO? Well, not exactly. Diane Keaton is in talks to play a blogger for a new HBO comedy called "Tilda." The series, currently in development, comes from [...]
Your brain wants a challenge, Virgo!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes Saturn opposing Uranus is a long-running on-and-off aspect that's scattering minefields, challenging us to change structures and goals through the year. The Sun and Mars are triggering those with sometimes [...]
Long Division
Across 1 Sound of oral enjoyment 6 Lickety-split (abbr.) 10 Nathan of the English version of 10-Down 14 Campbell of "Martin" 15 Boob, to a Brit 16 Hot to trot 17 Like an active partner [...]
The tribe lives on at Village Players
How quickly time passes! "Hair," the iconic rock musical of the hippie era, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008 with a very successful revival on Broadway. And beginning May 7, Metro Detroiters can let the [...]
Starlight ‘knocks ’em dead’ in Lansing
Starlight Dinner Theatre, Lansing's premier dinner theatre, will present "Knock 'Em Dead," the hilarious "you-solve-it" murder mystery by Tom Oldendick and Will Roberson beginning May 7. "It was too dark, too hot and too wet. [...]
China lifts HIV travel ban
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs China lifted its ban on HIV-positive visitors April 24. The State Council also lifted travel bans on people with leprosy and sexually transmitted diseases. Bans remain in place for [...]
Gay marriage to be legalized in Finland
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs No matter who wins Finland's next elections, Parliament is expected to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption. The Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported that its surveys have found minimal opposition to [...]
IDAHO is May 17
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is May 17 this year. ILGA-Europe - the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association - will [...]
Gay film festival for India
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs India saw its first big gay film festival April 22-25. Mumbai's International Queer Film Festival 2010 presented more than 100 films at the PVR Cinemas multiplex and elsewhere. The [...]
Moldova blocks gay demonstration
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs At the mayor's request, a court in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau on April 28 ruled that leading gay group GenderDoc-M could not stage a May 2 rally in [...]
Gay film festival banned in Siberia
by Rex Wockner International News Briefs A traveling version of St. Petersburg, Russia's gay film festival, Side by Side, was banned in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on April 17 but was a big success [...]
Upcoming events for SE Michigan Dyke March
The Southeast Michigan Dyke March has announced a slew of events leading up to their first-ever march and rally on June 5 in Ferndale. The group will host several Open Myke nights, the first of [...]
A Strong Start
by Jessica Carreras Chris Armstrong remembers the exact moment he decided to attend the University of Michigan. Then a high school senior scoping out colleges, he read a description about UM's active and vibrant LGBT [...]
Is gay the new black?
by David Alire Garcia DETROIT - The Rev. Wendell Anthony of Detroit's Fellowship Chapel proved an unlikely patron for a historic discussion of gay rights in the black community in downtown Detroit's Cobo Hall on [...]
Viewpoint: The Queer Equality Movement
by Antonio David Garcia We are our own movement. We are a movement of Alan Turing - the father of computer science and hero of World War II, forced into chemical castration and suicide. We [...]
‘Borders’ discussion bridges gaps of nationality, religion
by Jessica Carreras An April 28 showing of the documentary "City of Borders," which follows the lives of gay Israelis and Palestinians, and the subsequent panel discussion brought several prominent ideas to the table concerning [...]
Dr. Kathryn Wright, Horizons Project founder, dies
LATHRUP VILLAGE - Dr. Kathryn Wright died at home April 26. She was 61. An adolescent pediatrician, Wright was committed to the treatment of HIV/AIDS in teenagers in Detroit, and was the founder of The [...]
Between Ourselves: Michelle Fox-Phillips
by Jessica Carreras Michelle Fox-Phillips is the co-founder of Transgender Detroit, which is hosting its annual Transgender Day of Empowerment on May 15 at Affirmations LGBT community center in Ferndale. The 61-year-old Warren activist hopes [...]
Affirmations to hold intensive self-defense class
Affirmations and Mejishi Martial Arts have partnered up to offer a one-day intensive safety and self-defense training on May 15 from 1-5 p.m. at Mejishi Martial Arts Studio in Ferndale. The class is being offered [...]
New band seeking musicians for Pride events
The Equality Band of Michigan, a new Michigan LGBT band, is seeking musicians to join the band and perform at Pride events across the state in June. The band is planning to perform at Motor [...]
MDSL kicks off 25th anniversary season
DETROIT - The Metro Detroit Softball League, Detroit's only gay and lesbian softball league, kicked off its 25th season with a party on April 30 at the Rainbow Room, as well as their first game [...]
Hawaii State House approves civil unions bill
HONOLULU - The Hawaii State House passed HB 444 by a 31-20 vote April 30. The bill provides that equal rights and responsibilities of married couples in Hawaii be afforded to thousands of non-married couples [...]
LGBTs denounce Arizona immigration law
by Rex Wockner LGBT groups and public figures are speaking out against the draconian immigration law enacted in Arizona on April 23. The statute requires police to check an individual's immigration status whenever an officer [...]
Gay activists arrested at John McCain’s office in Phoenix
by Rex Wockner Activists from a group called Human Equal Rights Organizers, or HERO, were arrested at U.S. Sen. John McCain's office in Phoenix on April 26. Meg Sneed, Jimmy Gruender, Lee Walters, Luisa Valdez [...]
Prop. 8 federal trial likely to conclude in June
by Rex Wockner The trial in the federal lawsuit against Proposition 8 is likely to finally wrap up in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on June 16, when Judge Vaughn Walker has tentatively scheduled [...]
Embracing similarities to work past differences
In the film "City of Borders," which was recently screened and discussed at a local venue, one Israeli man says that going to a gay bar in Jerusalem helped him to see that all his [...]
Creep of the Week: Peter LaBarbera
"Are (or were) you a practicing homosexual?" That's the question on the tip of Peter LaBarbera's salivating tongue and he's posing it to Elena Kagan, whose name has been mentioned as a possible Obama Supreme [...]
Parting Glances: Ex-Straights Anonymous
I've just returned - a little bit out of breath - my gay persona still intact - from an Ex-Straights Anonymous retreat. Usually I would never under any circumstances attend a biased, sex-bigoted group of [...]
S/he said: Femmes, Arizona and allies
compiled by Howard Israel "The furor raised over the Arizona illegal immigrant law is interesting to watch from my queer perch. I understand the outrage. The nerve of one state threatening to restrict the constitutional [...]
Viewpoint: Passing the baton, continuing the struggle
With the passing of equal rights titans Benjamin Hooks, Dorothy Height and others across the country and locally, my thoughts once again have been on struggle of old vs. new, and new leadership vs. seasoned [...]
The Gay Moralist: Conversations with Maggie
by John Corvino Maggie Gallagher has announced that she is stepping down as president of the National Organization for Marriage, adding that she will remain on NOM's executive board while pursuing future projects, including a [...]
UPDATE: Federal court hears arguments in DOMA challenge
BOSTON - On May 6 in Boston, six years after the first same-sex couples in the country started marrying in Massachusetts, eight married same-sex couples and three widowers went to federal district court to hear [...]
Gay reactions to Kagan nomination
By Lisa Keen If approved by Congress, Solicitor General Elena Kagan would become the fourth female Supreme Court justice in U.S. history. CUT/ If approved by Congress, Solicitor General Elena Kagan would become the [...]
New agency name to be announced via video conference
The Triangle Foundation and Michigan Equality leadership are planning to host a live video conference at 11 a.m. May 13 to announce their merged agency's new name. The two LGBT advocacy groups announced their merger [...]
Governor candidates forum to be held tonight
The first candidates' forum following the filing deadline in the 2010 race for governor will be held at 7 p.m. May 12 at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant sponsored by a partnership of the [...]
Team takes ‘Step’ toward AIDS awareness
by Jessica Carreras When it comes to raising money or awareness around HIV/AIDS causes, sometimes it takes a little help to make the first step. The AmeriCorps National AIDS Fund Team Detroit is looking to [...]