Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addressed the State of Michigan after a plan to kidnap her and other Michigan government officials was thwarted by state and federal law enforcement agencies. She started by saying thank you to law enforcement and FBI agents who participated in stopping this [...]
Cakes Da Killa: No Homo will screen during Out Night: Films in Competition at 9:30 p.m. March 26 The 13th edition of Out Night at the Ann Arbor Film Festival includes short animated, narrative [...]
By Shelby Clark The Avenue Cafe in downtown Lansing will host a fundraiser this Friday, "Nightingales: An Intimate Evening with Lansing's Ladies of Jazz," for the Summer Solstice Jazz Festival. Accompanied by the Reggie Thomas [...]
By Christopher Treacy Photo: Kelly Smith When it came to playing the role of Preston "Peanut" Leroy in the Emerson Collins-produced film of Del Shores' GLAAD Award-winning play, "Southern Baptist Sissies," Leslie Jordan didn't [...]
By Dana Casadei It's the first scene for John Nowaczyk during a recent rehearsal of "Torch Song Trilogy." Nowaczyk's character, Ed, is trying to get the attention of Jamie Richards' Arnold. "Did you feel seduced [...]
Across 1 Black key for Elton John 6 Door piece 10 Zipper problem 14 Area of Tennessee? 15 Race track shape 16 Went lickety-split 17 "Showboat" director with a "fishy" name 19 Count (on) 20 [...]
By Bridgette M. Redman If you mix together the words of Shakespeare with the movement of Cirque du Soleil, you might end up with something like What a Do's "The Tempest." Directed by recent Alma [...]
By John Quinn For theater to happen, one needs only two elements - an artist to communicate and an audience to comprehend. For drama one also needs a playwright to provide the means of communication. [...]
By Judith Cookis Rubens Kids are sharp. They know what they like and what makes them happy. Take, Pinkalicious Pinkerton, the precocious young heroine of Farmers Alley Theatre's latest children's show, "Pinkalicious! the Musical," for [...]
On March 7 and 8, a peaceful vigil was held protesting the Courage workshops put on by Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Detroit. DETROIT - When Tom Nelson and Linda Karle-Nelson learned that [...]
Cass Varner joined Affirmations staff when it was still housed at the Frontier Building. She is currently working on a number of activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Center. File photo: Andrew Potter [...]
1989-90: First board of directors assembled by Gary Roberts and Jeff Vitale. Roberts is the first president of the board which includes Sue Pittman, Christine Puckett, Brian Wootton, Judy Utley, Jan Stevenson, Michael Sharp, Cathy [...]
FERNDALE - The criminalization of HIV is a reality with far-reaching consequences, and it's time to have a serious discussion about it. A coalition of LGBT and HIV specific groups are hosting a community forum [...]
Ozone House Executive Director Katie Doyle and Ruth Ellis Center Executive Director Jerry Peterson Two local LGBT youth advocates, Ozone House Executive Director Katie Doyle and Ruth Ellis Center Executive Director Jerry Peterson, have [...]
In the opening pages of Sean Strub's Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS and Survival, he thrusts the readers into the crucible of the controversial 1989 ACT UP protest at St. Patrick's Cathedral [...]
Sean Strub has played witness to the aftermath of the murder of John Lennon, the rise of the AIDS epidemic in New York City and the battles of ACT UP. He can now add a [...]
By BTL Staff The U.S. Senate voted unanimously March 12 to confirm out lesbian Judith E. Levy to the federal bench. Voting 97-0, the Senate confirmed Levy, along with three other judicial nominees, to serve [...]
The March 31 deadline for signing up for health care coverage under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act is fast approaching. Michiganders can enroll through the federal marketplace at http://www.healthcare.gov Despite earlier glitches, the [...]
FERNDALE - Clinical issues and gender identity will be explored in depth in a special training for professional counselors Mar. 21 and 22 at Affirmations. The two day course, which qualifies for continuing education credits, [...]
Michigan AIDS Coalition will hold an "eclectic" silent auction at the end of March titled "Bizarre/Bazaar." The auction will feature new and gently used items, ranging from holiday sweaters to lava lamps to more interesting [...]
By Lisa Keen NCLR's Minter pointed out that the lawsuit which just concluded a two-week trial in Detroit, for instance, could be appealed to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals relatively soon and potentially [...]
By Lisa Keen http://www.keennewsservice.com The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two cases next week that test the degree to which employers may use their personal religious beliefs to deny certain health coverage for employees. Neither [...]
There are a lot of things about the right-wing universe that don't make a lot of sense to me. The fanatical obsession with the unborn paired with the callous disregard of poor children and their [...]
". . . and I'm a gay basher . . ." Beloved PG Friends: I'm sitting in on a meeting of Gay Basher's Anonymous with - unknown to the bashers - my pocket-size recording device [...]
The time has come to admit three simple facts in the battle against HIV: - The condom only message is an abject failure and has been for decades. - HIV disproportionately impacts gay and bisexual [...]
By Shelby Clark Continuing on the recent health trend of organic and vegan foods, Good Cakes and Bakes, LLC brings a variety of animal-free, locally sourced products to the "Avenue of Fashion" in Detroit. Michelle [...]
By Lisa Keen Keen News Service Nobody spoke about recent efforts to circumvent laws protecting LGBT from discrimination by claiming religious motivations; nobody pointed out that people with religious objections to contraception often have religious [...]
Keen News Service http://Keennewsservice.com SUPREME CONCERN FOR SLIPPERY SLOPES: Observers of Tuesday's U.S. Supreme Court arguments over giving religious exemptions from the Affordable Care Act to for-profit corporations all agreed the decisions will likely come [...]
Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's issuance of a stay in the federal district court ruling striking Utah's ban on same-sex couples marrying, a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued an order Tuesday it [...]
Michigan won't recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend before a court halted a decision that opened the door to gay nuptials, Gov. Rick Snyder just announced. The announcement comes a day after [...]
Keen News Service http://Keennewsservice.com EMPLOYMENT RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION: The U.S. Supreme Court this morning will hear oral arguments in two cases asking whether, under a religious exemption in the Affordable Care Act, employers can deny certain [...]
The Deboer/Rowse Decision The emergency stay Barb Byrum letter to AG Eric Holder Plaintiff's Conclusion Document Proposed Conclusions of Law Response to the Stay Lisa Brown's response to the emergency stay State of Michigan's response [...]
BTL Editorial Michigan Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette is lying to the residents of Michigan. His blind pursuit to continue to enshrine discrimination in our state Constitution is not about the will of the voters, [...]
From left to right, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett, Emily Dievendorf, executive director of Equality Michigan, Glenna DeJong and Marsha Caspar, Michigan's first same-sex couple to receive their marriage license, [...]
by RJ Wolcott A group of marriage-equality advocates and elected officials today delivered 14,000 signatures and an album of wedding photos from Saturday urging Attorney General Bill Schuette to drop his appeal of a federal [...]
by RJ Wolcott From left to right, Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett, Emily Dievendorf, executive director of Equality Michigan, Glenna DeJong and Marsha Caspar, Michigan's first same-sex couple to receive [...]
Detroit Marriott Livonia is a proud sponsor of BTL's Ultimate LGBT Wedding & Anniversary Expo. A longtime sponsor, and previous host, of BTL's Wedding Expo, Detroit Marriott in Livonia is a fantastic spot to host [...]
Bill Hamilton Designs is a proud sponsor of BTL's Ultimate LGBT Wedding & Anniversary Expo. Feeling overwhelmed with planning a wedding, anniversary party or some other event? Bill Hamilton Designs is the solution. The event [...]
Acme Partyworks is a proud sponsor of BTL's Ultimate LGBT Wedding & Anniversary Expo. Looking for rental items beyond wedding-oriented pieces? Since 1992, Acme Partyworks has been lending a fun touch to unique weddings and [...]
By Lisa Keen The first couple to be married in Oakland County, Jim Ryder and Frank Colasonti, Jr arrived at the courthouse March 22 at 6 a.m. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown met Colasonti during [...]
BTL Staff Report Oakland County couples were filled with hope, love and determination Saturday, March 22 as they waited to fulfill a chance to legally marry. BTL photo: Andrew Potter MASON - Ingham County [...]
NEW YORK CITY - Politico reported today that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he will follow however a federal judge rules on the legality of same-sex marriages in his state. Snyder made the comments at [...]
By Crystal Proxmire Couples in Oakland County eagerly acquiring marriage licenses. BTL photo: Andrew Potter U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled in favor of the Hazel Park couple who sued the State of Michigan [...]
By LISA LEFF The United States should join the dozen other nations that allow transgender people to serve in the armed forces, a commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general said in a report [...]
UPDATE: The U.S. Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit has issued a temporary [...]
Couples in Oakland County lining up to be wed early morning March 22. LANSING - The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, after first signaling it would not intervene in Michigan's gay marriage case [...]
A vase of lilies sits amidst medical paraphernalia used to keep Elaine Stritch's diabetes in check. Her caretaker has just arranged the flowers and set them in the middle of the kitchen table - flowers [...]
Keen News Service http://Keennewsservice.com TENNESSEE JUDGE DENIES STAY: A federal judge in Tennessee Thursday denied the state's request that she put a stay on a narrow temporary order she issued last week, requiring the state [...]
By Lisa Keen The leader of a small Baptist church in Westboro, Kansas, who made a name for himself by traveling the country to hoist up "God Hates Fags" placards, is dead. A spokesman for [...]
Editor's note: A press conference will be held at Affirmations Community Center in Ferndale approximately 2 hours after the ruling is posted online according to attorneys for the plaintiffs. A journey that began over two [...]
UPDATE: Wastenaw and Oakland County Clerk will open up at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 22 to begin issuing marriage licenses. UPDATE: According to Tom Hillen of NBC affiliate WOOD TV8, Muskegon County Clerk Nancy Waters [...]
