Youth protest homelessness
By Zach Childree DETROIT- Last Friday, members of the Campaign to End AIDS gathered outside Detroit City Hall to draw attention to the plight of homeless youth. Alfredo Smith, a spokesman for the group, said [...]
By Zach Childree DETROIT- Last Friday, members of the Campaign to End AIDS gathered outside Detroit City Hall to draw attention to the plight of homeless youth. Alfredo Smith, a spokesman for the group, said [...]
I thank Ms. Brindle for her July 14 letter ("Gay rodeo promotes animal abuse, not community") about animal cruelty at RodeoFest 2011, put on by the Michigan International Gay Rodeo Association. This association claims to [...]
FERNDALE- In its final year of work, Affirmations' Multicultural Advisory Committee announced it expects to release a full report by the end of 2011. Throughout June and July, three teams are meeting independently to create [...]
KALAMAZOO- Community AIDS Resource and Education Services, a southwest Michigan organization that seeks to minimize the effects of HIV/AIDS on the community, appointed a longtime staffer as its new executive director. David Feaster most recently [...]
DEARBORN- Equality Michigan will hold its State Equality Dinner, its biggest annual event, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at The Henry. The dinner highlights advocacy work happening around the state, connects leaders in the movement [...]
By Eric Rader Speak Out Across the country this year, state legislatures are engaged in the process of congressional redistricting. Every ten years, following the constitution-mandated federal census, most states have to create new district [...]
FERNDALE- The quickly growing Queer for Books Book Club has announced their book selections for July and August. On Saturday, July 23, the group will discuss "Band Fags!" by Frank Anthony Polito. The book follows [...]
By Zach Childree Last year was the second highest year on record for murders of LGBT and HIV-affected communities, according to a report released July 12 by the National Coalition Of Anti-Violence Programs. The study [...]
By Rex Wockner Some 300 active-duty troops (the majority of the contingent) and veterans marched in San Diego's LGBT Pride parade July 16. As far as can be determined, it was a U.S. first. It [...]
by Rex Wockner U.S. NEWS Marylanders launched a new campaign July 12 to pass a same-sex-marriage law next year. A bill to legalize same-sex marriage passed the Senate this year but crashed and burned in [...]
by Rex Wockner U.S. NEWS The polygamist family portrayed in the reality TV show Sister Wives is suing Utah and using the famous U.S. Supreme Court case that erased the United States' remaining sodomy laws [...]
The word family has suffered a lot of abuse. Republicans have dubbed themselves the "family values party." Many conservative organizations have hid their bigotry behind the word, such as the American Family Association. In our [...]
Creep of the Week Marcus Bachmann and the Christian counseling clinics he owns are not anti-gay. And if you say they are then you're just an anti-hetero hate crimer. Stop hate criming, gays! So hateful, [...]
Heard on Facebook I don't. -Kerri Covey I think it's great when someone uses their spotlight to spotlight causes other than themselves. -Lisa Ross She is bisexual and has every right (even if she weren't [...]
Parting Glances It's always a transcendental pleasure to report about uplifting talks, lectures, sermons, 90-minute Power Point presentations I'm frequently asked to cover because, somewhat curiously, no one else wants to at BTL. As a [...]
S/he Said "I'm not gay, but I was afraid to even let anyone have the thought. I can only imagine the agony - being a prisoner in your own mind - for someone who wants [...]
By John Corvino The Gay Moralist "Are you married?" It seems like a simple question. But on closer glance, much depends on context. In this case, the context was jury duty. I was Candidate 13, [...]
By The Associated Press President Obama signed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" into law last year, but said repeal wouldn't be official until the military certified its readiness. Today Defense Secretary Leon Panetta [...]
By BTL staff President Barack Obama signs the certification stating the statutory requirements for repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" have been met, in the Oval Office, July 22, 2011. Pictured, from left, are: Brian [...]
If there's any girl who runs the world, it's Beyoncé. The reigning diva - she's called Queen Bey for a reason, people - is one of the biggest and best voices behind a long run [...]
By Tara Cavanaugh David Blair performing at the 2009 TEDxDetroit conference. The last time David Blair spoke with BTL was just after Michael Jackson died in 2009. The death of the King of Pop, [...]
DETROIT- The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan announced Tuesday a unique media partnership between Issue Media Group and Between The Lines. Aimed at highlighting local LGBT leaders of color, the partnership is supported by The [...]
By Tara Cavanaugh Renee Harmon keeps reminders of her three children around her home. She has not seen them in two years. BTL photo: Andrew Potter. After being turned away from the Michigan Supreme [...]
A Mother Jones expose published Monday shows how Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's district became a "suicide contagion area." Nine teens in the district have committed suicide in just two years, and four of the teens were [...]
A Mother Jones expose published Monday shows how Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's district became a "suicide contagion area." Nine teens in the district have committed suicide in just two years, and four of the teens were [...]
Gimme, gimme more is what went through my head yesterday night — and not because Britney Spears, who gave a half-assed performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills, sang that at her "Femme Fatale" show. [...]
Gimme, gimme more is what went through my head yesterday night — and not because Britney Spears, who gave a half-assed performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills, sang that at her "Femme Fatale" show. [...]
by Jody Valley Q: I bet you haven't received a letter like mine before. I've been in a relationship with "Richard" for 12 years. We had a commitment ceremony five years ago. I love him [...]
by Ed Sikov Kyle, Robbie, Phil Levine and some little wisp of a Thai twink on Phil Levine's lap were hot in conversation when I arrived on Friday evening. As I walked in I thought [...]
When Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis stroll into a hotel suite in Santa Monica, it's clear why they're in a movie about having emotionless, just-for-fun sex - they're both ridiculously hot. He's all dapper in [...]
By Samantha White Gay hair, fades, braids and weaves - Shocantelle Brown has everything you need to be gay chic. "I do the frontal-hair that gay men like. If they want to use it to [...]
By Romeo San Vicente Cheyenne Jackson. Photo: Karl Simon It's abs ahoy for '300: The Battle of Artemisia' Remember when Sarah Silverman hosted the MTV Movie Awards and noted that the title "300" was [...]
By Jack Fertig Relationships aren't a competitive sport. Venus in Cancer aspecting Mars in Gemini should be good for whispering sweet nothings, but Eris aspects both, and Mars is right on the South Node. Resist [...]
Dolly Parton, 'Better Day' Times are hard, but Dolly's here with a new album - and her trademark look-on-the-bright-side attitude - to tell you it's not all that bad. "Grindstones and rhinestones, that made up [...]
Across 1 Game with two queens 6 Porgy and bass 10 They're good for tricks 14 "Brokeback Mountain" setting 15 "Diana" singer 16 Petty of "A League of Their Own" 17 "As You Like It" [...]
By Dan Woog It sounds like a headline straight out of The Onion: Discriminated-against gays discriminate against straights. But the facts - couched a bit more legalistically than that, of course - came straight from [...]
By Bridgette M. Redman Would that our language possessed a gender-neutral pronoun that did not render the objectification of "it" or the stiltedness of "one." Such a pronoun would have greatly aided the actors in [...]
Doc (Thomas D. Mahard) pays a visit to his new neighbors, Rob (John Lepard ) and Maddie (Kate Peckham) in Williamston Theatre's "And The Creek Don't Rise". Photo: Chris Purchis On paper, Williamston Theatre's [...]
By Judith Cookis Rubens It's hard not to envision a time when the musical "Chicago" doesn't resonate. Forget its blockbuster score and choreographed glitz. At its core, it's a story about a corrupt legal system [...]
By Judith Cookis Rubens "Bad subject matter? Or a bad title? That could kill a show pretty good," acknowledges Little Sally, the beggar girl/narrator of this delightfully dark musical that parodies revolutionary stories and numerous [...]
By Bridgette M. Redman The men of What a Do's latest production were angry beyond a reasonable doubt. The dozen jurors in the classic Reginald Rose story were hot, temperamental and quick to jump down [...]
By John Quinn What a difference a "g" makes. With a simple swap of a letter, ambitious playwrights can evade the long arm of a film company's legal department. Thus no trademark was hurt in [...]
I suspect if Susan Harris was able to break the shackles of 1980s television and write an episode of "The Golden Girls" totally free of the NBC censors, it might look something like "Thank You [...]
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Some 2,700 same-sex couples have tied the knot in Argentina since same-sex marriage became legal a year ago. According to the Argentina LGBT Federation, that amounts to about 1 percent [...]
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Australia is continuing to prevent its citizens from entering into a same-sex marriage abroad, the group Australian Marriage Equality said July 8. Specifically, Australia refuses to issue a "certificate of [...]
by Rex Wockner INTERNATIONAL NEWS Lithuania's Parliament has banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in advertising. The move was a turnaround from earlier drafts of the same bill, which banned homosexual topics in advertising. The [...]
By Tara Cavanaugh Jeffrey McLoughlin holds his adopted son Avon while playing with his adopted daughter Anala. Anala and Avon are half siblings. McLoughlin's husband, James McDonald, is a stay-at-home dad. BTL photo: Andrew [...]