U.S. Supreme Court Orders Adoption Recognition
By Lisa Keen In what is being hailed as a "terrific" victory for gay and lesbian parents, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reversed a decision of the Alabama Supreme Court that had refused to [...]
Presidential Debates Highlight the Need to Celebrate Inclusive Wedding Vendors
By Amy Lynn Smith Sheri Folta, left, and her wife, Cassandra Varner, slice one of two anniversary cakes together, Sunday, March 22, 2015, at Affirmations in Ferndale, Mich. Families and friends gathered to celebrate the [...]
Q&A: Alan Cumming on Sappy Songs, Bisexuality & Why You Should Stop Being Offended By His Commercial Projects
Photo: Steve Vaccariello As a child, Alan Cumming cried as his older brother sang "Danny Boy" to him from across the bedroom they shared. "He would do it to make me cry," Cumming says, [...]
Deep Inside Hollywood
By Romeo San Vicente Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan move into 'Ideal Home' A long time ago, in the very bad old days, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison portrayed a dismally unhappy gay couple in [...]
Detroit Institute of Arts to Host ‘First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare’ Exhibition
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is the Michigan host site for "First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare," a national traveling exhibition of the Shakespeare First Folio, one of the world's most treasured [...]
Here’s To Latrice
She is large and in charge, chunky yet funky. Yes, the one and only Latrice "Mother Fucking" Royale is coming to town. The drag diva - and "RuPaul's Drag Race" favorite - will be starring [...]
Mombian: Two Books Tell the Stories of LGBTQ Families
BY DANA RUDOLPH Stories have power. Two new collections of stories about the creation of LGBTQ families reinforce that point with two very different approaches. "Modern Families: Stories of Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship," by Joshua [...]
Gay Things You Do Playing Football
Across 1 "The Unicorn" author Murdoch 5 Famed Loch 9 Sits for 63-Across 14 "Queen of Country" McEntire 15 Prefix with potent 16 Give the slip to 17 Give relief to a thief 18 One [...]
Ann Arbor Gears Up For Film Festival With Featured Filmmaker
BY BTL STAFF "Alien Child" (2013) As part of AAFF 54, the Ann Arbor Film Festival's upcoming Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker series will feature filmmaker David OReilly. Come hear OReilly speak about his past works [...]
Strengthening Gay/Straight Alliances
BY AJ TRAGER FLINT - BAMM GSAs, a program of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health, is in its second year of operation. Over the last two years, BAMM GSAs has worked with schools [...]
Motor City ComedyFest Celebrates 20 Years March 12
DEARBORN -- The 20th annual Motor City ComedyFest is coming to the Dearborn Ford Community & Performing Arts Center on Saturday, March 12. The event is sponsored by Equality Michigan and features four top comedians [...]
State Notable Book Award in Hot Water
BY AJ TRAGER LANSING - In over 20 years of operation, the Notable Book Award, an annual award given out by the Library of Michigan for works focusing on strong Michigan themes or written by [...]
Study: ‘Rare’ Infection During PrEP
Out of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held in Boston last week came news of a 43-year-old gay man who seroconverted despite being compliant with the drug taken for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or [...]
Primary Vote Predictions
Polling for the March 8 Presidential primaries in Michigan are putting former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on top of the Democratic race and millionaire reality television star Donald J. Trump on top of [...]
Trump Tangles With White Supremacy Support
Donald Trump has been dogged for failing to immediately reject support from the KKK. In an interview with ABC's Jake Tapper Sunday, Trump was asked about David Duke, the former leader of the KKK, and [...]
Former Michigan Lawmakers Charged
LANSING - Former Republican lawmakers Cindy Gamrat, R-Plainwell, and Todd Courser, R-Lapeer, have been charged with crimes stemming from the couple's sex and email scandal. Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, has charged Courser with [...]
Upcoming Talk: Inequality and Policing of LGBT Sexual and Gender Identities Post-DADT
YPSILANTI -- An upcoming talk that is part of the Equality Knowledge Project of Eastern Michigan University's Equality Research Center will look at organizational inequality and policing of LGBT sexual and gender identities post-"Don't Ask, [...]
Phone Bank For Flint Families
FERNDALE - Affirmations and Equality Michigan are to host a phone bank March 3 to help families in Flint. The two organizations and those participating will be calling families in Flint to follow up on [...]
Creep of the Week: Pat McCrory
I'm tired of talking about toilets, everybody. I don't love using public restrooms, mostly because of the ick factor and lack of total privacy. But I sure am glad that public restrooms exist. And if [...]
Parting Glances: Tears for Closet Gay Pioneer
To diddle an old saying: You can't judge a gay author or his book by its -- or by his -- cover. Case in point: Groundbreaking 1951 sociological expose, "The Homosexual in America." Gay nom [...]
Positive Thoughts: Something More Important Than Fear
By Rick Guasco Last October, I came out. Everyone who knows me was surprised. Although I've been openly gay most of my adult life, and I've been HIV-positive since 1992, I have only been on [...]
Transmissions: What’s at Stake
By Gwendolyn Ann Smith Election season is upon us, and the primaries are in full swing. In just a few months we'll be offered the choice of two candidates -- and a number of unlikely [...]
Couple’s Great Love Makes History, In More Ways Than One
By Amy Lynn Smith Zack Ismail, left, and Ken Siver, right. Ken Siver and Zack Ismail's eyes met across a crowded dance floor 18 years ago. And the rest, as they say, is history. [...]