Cocktail Chatter: Gazpacho Borracho
By Ed Sikov "It sure has been one of those summers!" the talkative senior sitting next to me on the train said as we pulled out of Penn Station toward Babylon. (Yes, there really is [...]
Big Names Headline Arts, Beats & Eats
ROYAL OAK Once again, Ford Arts, Beats & Eats - presented by Citizens Bank - will feature an energy-packed line-up of national and local musical acts on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 31-Sept. 3. With more [...]
Be mature, Sagittarius!
By Jack Fertig Q Scopes A long-running Sun-Venus aspect peaks this week, making everyone try too hard to be nice. Both orbs make a hard aspect to Eris boosting pushiness and manipulation. Everyone has room [...]
Hear Me Out: Melissa Etheridge’s ‘4th Street Feeling’ Reviewed
Melissa Etheridge, '4th Street Feeling' "Fearless Love" revisited Melissa's song-kill mode when the feisty return-to-rock was released two years ago, but her latest album really takes the beloved icon back to her roots. All the [...]
Gore Vidal
Across 1 "Gay ___ Sutra" 5 Prickteasers 10 Alpert of "Mame" fame 14 NG: Aladdin or Scheherazade 15 In-your-face 16 Words said near crystal balls 17 NG: Cans, in the UK 18 Word to someone [...]
Major League Soccer Kicks Boy Scouts
By Dan Woog The OutField Last month, after a two-year, super-secret study by a group of unnamed people, the Boy Scouts of America announced that their next hike would take them all the way back [...]
The 2012 Wilde Awards: Another Season of Excellence Honored
By Carolyn Hayes Changes took front and center at last night's 11th annual Wilde Awards, EncoreMichigan.com's celebration of the best of Michigan professional theater for the 2011-2012 season. Not only did the ceremony and reception [...]
MSU Speaker Series to Examine Development of Sexual Orientation
East Lansing - Michigan State University will host a speaker series this fall examining the issue of whether sexual orientation is determined before birth. The series is titled "Whom You Love: The Biology of Sexual [...]
Dan McDougal
Between Ourselves Dan McDougal is the chair of the Sign Language Studies Program at Madonna University, and the co-founder of TerpTheatre, a company that specializes in stage interpreting. The 47-year-old Ferndale resident has been working [...]
Film backs up anti-bullying policies
As back to school time approaches, anti-bullying programs and policies are at the top of the agenda in many school districts. "But in our quick fix, short attention span culture, shaking a finger is not [...]
Government Agencies Reach Out on Importance of Reporting Crime
FERNDALE - "We, as a community, haven't had the best relationships with government agencies," said Equality Michigan Director of Victim Services Nusrat Ventimiglia as she introduced a panel of representatives from State and Federal departments [...]
Healthy Relationships: KICK Delves Deeper in Tuesday Night Talk
DETROIT - What makes a healthy relationship work? The folks at KICK, The Agency for LGBT African Americans, thought this was an important topic to explore, so for their Aug. 14 discussion group they invited [...]
Step Up or Shut Up: Pugh on the Hunger Strike and on Detroit Politics
FERNDALE - "Stop complaining if you're not doing anything to change it. Step up or shut up." That's what Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh has to say about folks who sit on the sidelines [...]
Ann Arbor Democrats to Vote on Marriage Equality Resolution
Ann Arbor - The Ann Arbor Democratic Party will vote Sept. 15 on a resolution thanking President Barack Obama for publicly stating his support for marriage equality for same-gender couples. "Gay and lesbian couples should [...]
Mr. Midwest Leather Contest is Looking for Good Men
St. Louis, MO - This year's Mr. Midwest Leather Contest hits St. Louis, Missouri the weekend of Oct. 5-7. The Mr. Midwest Leather title represents 13 Midwestern states and is open to Leather Men from [...]
Hungry4Equality: Week 4
Day 22 - Tobias Davis quote: During the past 17 years I've been out, I have been shunned, rejected, assaulted, and experienced many other negative issues as a result of me being open about my [...]
Moving From Shame to Shalom: 20 Years of LGBT Ministry
By Carol Tanis GRAND RAPIDS - Quick to smile and slow to criticize, Rev. Jim Lucas is one of the last people you'd expect to stir up controversy and encourage what some would term "radical" [...]
Errol Naidoo
Creep of the Week Earlier this month in South Africa, workers were on strike at a Marikana platinum mine demanding better wages. Police shot their guns into the crowd. Dozens were injured and 34 people [...]
Ah! There’s the rub …
Parting Glances Once upon a time there was a Genie just let out of a confining lamp. How long he had been trapped inside he couldn't say. The Lamp had lain wedged between a smooth [...]
When the rape debate hits home
by Mark Segal Viewpoint Many years ago, my friend Jan was raped. The trauma was so great that she ended up taking her own life. This week I've watched the "debate" about rape unfold in [...]
Conventions Provide a Stark Difference on A Better Future
Viewpoint "So a Mormon, a Catholic and Atlas walk into a bar..... "The beginning of a bad joke? No it's the beginning of the Republican National Convention. But if you're a woman, poor, a person [...]
Welcoming! (Including) Affirming?
by Rev. Jim Lynch Viewpoint Interim Pastor, MCC-Detroit Like so many, I read with interest these days about all of the religious bodies struggling with the issues of sexuality in general, homosexuality specifically. I see [...]
Romney Speech Exempts Gays from Tomorrow’s ‘Better Future’
By Chuck Colbert Mitt Romney received a rousing reception as he accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination on Thursday, Aug. 30, making his way through a spirited crowd on the convention floor, approaching the podium [...]