S/He Said:
"'Activist judges' is a code word for gay. The judges being verbally tarred and feathered are those who have decriminalized gay sex, as they once did abortion, and who countenance marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Bill Maher speaking to Jay Leno on The Tonight Show
1318
"I've long felt the current spate of laws – you can't do this because you're gay, can't have that because you're lesbian – bears a discomfiting resemblance to Germany in the 1930s."
Leonard Pitts Jr. writing in the Miami Herald
1319
Issues this month:
1318 5/5/2005
1319 5/12/2005
1320 5/19/2005
1321 5/26/2005
In Michigan:
Sec. of State reverses pro-trans policy
Transgender Michigan president Rachel Crandall was incensed when the Sec. of State reinstated a requirement that trans people must complete sex reassignment surgery before having the correct gender on their drivers' licenses.
BTL photo: Sarah Mieras
Family Lobby Day pushes adoption rights
LGBT families turned out to lobby for the passage of a second-parent adoption bill. About 30 people including nine children joined leaders of the Coalition for Adoption Rights Equality in Lansing.
1318 "Second annual Family Lobby Day to advocate for children"
1320 "LGBT families lobby state legislature for support"
HARC vandalized
Ypsilanti's HIV/AIDS service agency building and van were covered by threatening graffiti. No one has been charged.
1318 "HIV/AIDS Resource Center vandalized"
Seniors talk to LGBTs
The Meer Apartments at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield hosted a panel discussion for seniors on LGBT issues.
1319 "Seniors query gay speakers about their lives"
Howell High students faced prosecution for anti-gay graffiti. Three other students who painted the word "Love" over the message "God Hates Gays" were suspended for the remainder of the school year. Over 500 people attended a special graduation ceremony for the three seniors, who were not allowed to attend the school's regular commencement ceremony.
1321 "Students who painted hate message at Howell High School may face prosecution"
1324 "Suspended Howell students graduate in special ceremony"
Gay Arabs come out
MAPP hosted Arabian Nights at Club Q in Ferndale, the first Arab-American gay event in Michigan.
1321 "Middle eastern gays in Michigan emerging from 'out of the shadow'"
MOT premiers 'Margaret Garner'
Toni Morrison's masterpiece "Beloved" was transformed into an opera that premiered at the Detroit Opera House.
1319 "Singing to be free, opera as a political act, Margaret Garner debuts in Detroit this month"
Unions support trans
The Michigan Federation of Teachers and School-Related Personnel voted to support trans issues.
1320 "MFT decries gender-identity discrimination, chides UofM"
Gay-friendly poster draws ire
Parents targeted a gay-friendly poster in Troy high school. They demanded it be taken down. The school refused.
1321 "Gay-friendly poster creates controversy in Troy"
Transitions
Affirmations bid farewell to Program Director Michael Larson.
1320 "Affirmations program director passes the torch"
National:
Methodists reinstated defrocked lesbian minister, Beth Stroud.
1318 "Methodists to reinstate defrocked minister"
Spain approved same-sex marriage.
1318 "Spanish Parliament OKs same-sex marriage"
Former presidential candidate John Kerry panned including equal marriage in the Democratic platform.
1319 "Kerry pans marriage equality"
Ohio conservatives pushed for ban on LGBT adoption.
1319 "Marriage equality foes push for restricted divorce, gay adoption ban in Ohio"
AIDS demonstrators protested at the White House.
1319 "AIDS Demonstrators leaves shoes at the White House"
The Mass. sky didn't fall
Benjamin McGuire, 22, kisses his husband, Joshua Jason, 22, in front of their Boston home. They married in January.
AP Photo: Chitose Suzuki
One year after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, conservatives conceded that they couldn't muster the votes to pass a federal constitutional amendment. State level fights continued though, and Kansas approved an anti-marriage constitutional amendment. A federal judge struck down Nebraska's amendment as unconstitutional. Connecticut approved civil unions beginning Oct. 1.
1320 "Marriage after Massachusetts"
1320 "Federal Court strikes down Nebraska marriage amendment"
Hairspray is pure fun
Drag was never so mainstream as when the musical adaptation of "Hairspray" opened at the Masonic Temple Theatre. The 1988 John Waters film about a 1960s TV dance show jumped the line from gay cult favorite to outrageous entertainment, delighting Detroit audiences.
1318 "Don't let the bee-hive hairdos scare you! 'Hairspray' is pure fun"
Students rally for equal marriage
Presbyterian minister Rev. Dr. Charles Booker-Hirsch joined members of Students Achieving Marriage Equality to protest for equal marriage rights at the state Capitol. "If we value families, then let's value all families," said Booker-Hirsch.
BTL photo: Dawn Wolfe Gutterman
1318 "Straight, gay students protest for equal marriage rights"
All smiles at APM
AIDS Partnership Michigan raised $130,000 at their annual Time Warp fundraiser at the Roostertail in Detroit, and members of Equity and Friends Fight AIDS presented a check for $13,000 to APM's director Barbara Murray (pictured above). EFFA gave another $13,000 check to the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project.
Photo courtesy Curtis Lipscomb
1320 "Friday the 13th brings good luck to local HIV/AIDS organizations"
1329 "AIDS Partnership Michigan does the Time Warp again"
