June Pride 2010 BTL Edition
To see last year's BTL coverage click here: https://www.pridesource.com/issue_summary.html?issue=1822
Queer Rising shuts down Manhattan Traffic
By Tara Cavanaugh NEW YORK - Queer Rising, an LGBTQ activist organization in New York, staged a protest at the intersection of 42nd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan on Tuesday morning, holding a 75-foot [...]
Dear Jody: I caught him cheating
Q: I am all alone, sitting in a motel room. It's freezing outside, and I can feel the cold air seeping in around the doors and windows. The reason I am sitting here in despair [...]
Cocktail Chatter: The Aviation
by Ed Sikov "So, mutatis mutandis, the LGBT community..." Ted was lecturing about marriage equality from his podium on our living room couch. "What?" I blurted. Cocktail "hour" was pushing 90 minutes. I should have [...]
Born This Way
Imagine all the gay jokes told in the last 15 years of Michigan's Lesbian and Gay ComedyFest, Equality Michigan's annual laugh-out-loud event. Get ready for more at 6 and 9:30 p.m. March 5 at Dearborn's [...]
Mindy Cohn: Proud to be a ‘fag hag’
By Anthony Paull Infamous for her role as Natalie Green, the fresh-faced teen of the 1980s sitcom "The Facts of Life," Mindy Cohn is best known as the bubbly Tootie-sidesick, generally pleasing television audiences with [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente A Blake Lively reboot of 'Sex and the City'? From the Makes Perfect Sense Department: In the wake of last year's "Sex and the City 2" debacle (horrible reviews, disappointing box [...]
Bites benefit nonprofits with Taste of Ferndale
It all started back in 2003, when a resident donated a house to Ferndale with the proceeds to be used for local charities. City leaders at the time hired longtime Ferndale resident and Real Estate [...]
Q Scopes: Open yourself, Taurus!
By Jack Fertig Venus entering Aquarius opens new aesthetic opportunities and challenges. Be daring and adventurous in your own presentation and your choices for entertainment and art. The North Node entering Sagittarius opens new challenges [...]
Hear Me Out: Adele avoids sophomore slump
Adele, '21' So much has been said about the big British music boom, but Duffy's drab sophomore album was D.O.A. and Amy Winehouse drank herself into oblivion. But Adele Adkins, with the wowing voice and [...]
Scissor Sisters: Fun… and filthy/gorgeous
"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'," the Scissor Sisters encore at their Feb. 27 show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, wasn't how the nearly sold-out crowd felt when the glam-pop band played for a brisk [...]
Gay Youth of Old
Across 1 Go lickety-split 5 Apple that isn't a fruit 9 One way to San Francisco 13 Abba of Israel 14 Dusk in Dijon 15 Took to the air 16 '90s teen drama 19 It [...]
The OutField: Dallas does a gay Super Bowl
By Dan Woog How cold was it in Dallas during this month's Super Bowl? So cold that revelers at the Cedar Springs Super Street Party kept ducking into bars and clubs - even though DJs, [...]
An astonishing ‘Equus’ at the Blackbird
By Michael H. Margolin "Equus" continues at the Blackbird Theatre through March 19. Photo: Blackbird Theatre One of the highlights of many seasons occurred last night, the opening night of Peter Shaffer's compassionate and [...]
Potentialities realized at Planet Ant
The cast of "Hylomorph" is open to the potentialities at Planet Ant Theatre. Photo: Planet Ant While science and math nerds might not always be the most exciting people to hang out and have [...]
Not strictly ballroom at the Fisher
By Michael H. Margolin "Burn the Floor" continues at Detroit's Fisher Theatre through March 6. Photo: Beyton Erkman "Burn the Floor" opened at the Fisher Theatre Feb. 22 and I am still exhausted from [...]
Belarus president told German foreign minister to turn straight
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Last November in Minsk, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested to German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle that he should cease being gay. Lukashenko recently acknowledged the incident, telling reporters [...]
Brazilian government launches homophobia helpline
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Brazil's government launched a homophobia helpline Feb. 19 to deal with complaints of anti-gay discrimination and violence. Brazilians can dial 100 from any phone. The launch ceremony featured an official [...]
Gay guesthouses investigated in UK
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Following the recent case in which a straight Christian couple were fined because they refused to rent a room in their bed-and-breakfast to a gay couple, the United Kingdom government [...]
Irish support same-sex marriage
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Sixty-one percent of the Irish support legalization of same-sex marriage, according to a new Irish Independent/Millward Brown Lansdowne survey. Only 27 percent oppose it. Support is strongest among young people, [...]
Jamaican gay bar raided
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Police raided the only gay bar on the touristy Hip Strip in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Feb. 20, according to the Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, or J-FLAG. [...]
Portugal approves pro-trans policies
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Portugal's Parliament on Feb. 17 approved a law making life easier for transsexuals. Within a couple of weeks, those who want to change their name or legal sex can go [...]
Slovenian government proposes legalization of same-sex marriage
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Human Rights Watch on Feb. 25 urged Slovenia's Parliament to adopt a new Family Code proposed by the government that includes legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption. "In recent years [...]
Trinidad and Tobago debates same-sex unions
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago is in the midst of a debate about recognition of same-sex unions. The matter arose when some senators objected to the fact [...]
Alliance provides guiding light
By Alexa Stanard In a year of news reports about suicides by LGBT youth and the bullying that targets them, metro Detroit LGBT teens are banding together to support each other, educate their communities and [...]
Adodi Detroit Hosts Retreat for SGL Men of African Descent
On March 26, the men of Adodi Detroit will host a one-day retreat for same-gender-loving men of African descent in the Metro Detroit area. The theme of the retreat is "The Fierce Embrace: Exploring the [...]
EMU: Protecting LGBTQ students and faculty?
Eastern Michigan University is one of the few state universities that include sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity in its equal opportunity and non-discrimination policy. But its policy also includes some ambiguous language that [...]
Death to DOMA!
by Eric Rader Since President Obama took office 25 months ago, some in the LGBT community have complained about his administration's slow progress in fulfilling his campaign pledges on issues of equality. The president, however, [...]
College conference promotes activism for equality
By Lucy Hough ANN ARBOR - This year's Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference, which took place at the University of Michigan from Feb. 25-27, attracted 1,500 attendees. The conference theme, "justice or [...]
Opinions on Motor City Pride’s move to Detroit: David Wait
By David Wait, Chair of the Motor City Pride Planning Committee Yes, Motor City Pride is moving to Detroit's Hart Plaza this June. You may have heard a lot about it - we sure have. [...]
Opinions on Motor City Pride’s move to Detroit: Kimberly Jones
By Kimberly Jones, President of the Black Pride Society As President of the Black Pride Society, producers of the Midwest's oldest black LGBT pride celebration, Detroit's Hotter Than July, I have to question the motivation [...]
Statussexy.com campaign turns heads
By Jack VanHecke The website statussexy.com http://www.statussexy.com/ launched on Valentine's Day this year - but it's not what you'd think. The website is part of AIDS Partnership Michigan's and the HIV/AIDS Resource Center's latest campaign [...]
Obama stops defending DOMA
By Lisa Keen The Obama administration made a blockbuster announcement Feb. 23, saying it has concluded that one part of the Defense of Marriage Act will not be able to pass constitutional muster in the [...]
Olson & Boies: Let Calif. gays marry right now
by Rex Wockner American Foundation for Equal Rights lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies filed a motion with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Feb. 23 asking that it immediately lift its order [...]
Maryland Senate passes same-sex marriage bill
by Rex Wockner Maryland's Senate passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage Feb. 24. The vote was 25-21. "This is a historic and proud moment in Maryland's history," said lead sponsor Sen. Rob Garagiola. "I [...]
White House names openly gay fundraiser as first male Social Secretary
By Lisa Keen The White House announced that the first man, and openly gay individual, took the position as President Obama's Social Secretary Feb. 25. Jeremy Bernard was a senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador [...]
The kids aren’t all right
There's something up with the youth nowadays. The kids aren't all right, and they aren't all right with not feeling all right. Get what we mean? These kids know the world they're growing up in [...]
John Boehner
Creep of the Week Well, he did it. President Barack Obama announced his administration will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court, essentially firing up the big Gay Bat Signal over America, [...]
What do you think about Facebook’s addition of “civil union” and “domestic partnership” to its relationship options?
Kinda legal sounding. Not bad, but glad I don't have to put those down. I personally like the "it's complicated" option. - Betty Jean Cassidy "Separate but equal." Hmm. Not sure I like the sound [...]
Leave diapers behind!
Parting Glances It was bound to happen sooner or later. After 40 years of the spearheading Ex-Gay Movement - founded in 1970 during the onset of the so-called Sexual Revolution - heterosexuals are finally demanding [...]
Law and LGBT rights
S/he said "You can't say you are for equality and yet acquiesce in exclusion from the central social and legal institution of this and virtually every society. All prejudice, all discrimination, is painful and wrong, [...]
From Tahrir Square to Hart Plaza
Like the rest of the world, I was glued to the television watching the events in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. The 18-day protest against the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak ultimately led to [...]
Republicans seek to reverse benefits for non-married partners of state employees
By Tara Cavanaugh Shutterstock image LANSING -Senate Republicans have begun the process of reversing the decision by the Michigan Civil Service Commission to offer benefits to partners of state employees. The MCSC made the [...]
Openly gay fathers needed for study
Romi Mann, a graduate student and doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, Calif., is conducting a survey to learn how fatherhood affects gay men's relationship with their own parents. The [...]
BTL produces first same-sex wedding expo May 1
LIVONIA - Between The Lines Newspaper and Detroit Marriott Livonia will co-host To Have and to Hold: A wedding expo for same-sex couples on Sunday, May 1, from 3 to 8 p.m. "Michigan may not [...]
POSTPONED: APRIL 1 FOOLS WELCOME!
Join in the fun when BTL pulls together some of the best food, entertainment and attendees in this Second Annual Mardi Gras Event. The Roostertail in Detroit will behome to this year's event once more [...]