Charles Alexander
Out Of The Labyrinth, Into The Light
After two decades, "Unto Us A Child is Born," a same-sex family portrait by well-known gay Michigan artist Carl Demeulenaere, is openly out and proudly on display at the Flint Institute of Arts through Jan. 4, 2015. The once controversial [...]
Parting Glances: Santa Comes Out
'Twas New Years Eve and Santa Closet – lavender quill pen in hand, Gucci trifocal sunglasses on his merry nose – was double checking his private list to see who's straight, and who's – hopefully, er, – gay. Unbeknownst to almost everybody – the [...]
Parting Glances: Happy Arf! Merry Meow!
A federally funded study by People & Friends of Cats and Dogs (P-FCD) says that "persons of rainbow personality make the best dog owners, but have little influence on cats, although this should not be misconstrued as homophobia on the part of [...]
Parting Glances Fundies! Go Fly Ben's Kite!
If one person single-handedly pushed this country into a War of Independence from England, it is patriot and pamphleteer Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809). His book "Common Sense" is a clarion call to open rebellion. Today's Religious Right hates and [...]
Parting Glances: Getting Oral For Jesus
For every plus action, there's an unequal and contrary minus reaction. It's called the Castor Oil Law of Physics. Case in point. Word comes from the Washington, D.C. based Family Ex-Cathedra Council that a Thanksgiving Day protest is planned at each [...]
Parting Glances: Diary Of A Possibility
January 3, 2050 Dear Diary: Another same-sex couple has been "relocated." My neighbors two doors down. The boys who did a wonderful job of gentrifying that old house on Wells Street. Didn't really get to know them, but they always waved. Said hello. [...]
Parting Glances: Life Ended June 1964
For over 50 years. Life magazine informed Americans about what was happening here and abroad. Photos and content were dramatic. Mostly conservative. Occasionally controversial. Once in awhile downright shocking. Life folded in 1973; circulation 13 [...]
Parting Glances: Remembering Detroit's Anti-Hero
OLIVER "BILLY" SIPPLE. Born: Detroit, Nov. 20, 1941. Died: San Francisco, Feb. 2, 1989. A reluctant hero, he strolled into history at a precise psychological moment, but an inconvenient time. His year with destiny: 1975. Billy's favorite San [...]
Parting Glances: Hick's Oval Office Lavender
It was during a rainy October night 82 years ago aboard a 20th Century Limited train returning to Washington, D.C. that the love between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena "Hick" Hickok got started. Their love would last for 30 years and go the full [...]
Parting Glances: Were You Ever 'Known'?
Just a few generations ago, the term homosexual was often qualified by adjectives. Alleged. Avowed. Rumored. Known! The descriptions were used by cautious media, police enforcement agencies and courtroom attorneys. Not many are aware that, until as [...]
Parting Glances: 10 M For 1 And All...
My friend Jon Strand is a pointillist artist. His art consists of near-micro dots of ink coloration, layer upon layer upon layer. It's no exaggeration that Jon has dotted in his art career spanning over three decades anywhere from 50 to 80 million [...]
Parting Glances: 'Tricky Dick' Tapes Gay
I was working at a discount records shop in downtown Detroit in 1959, the year two ill-fated contenders – Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Vice President Richard Milhous Nixon – campaigned for the 1960 presidency. I stood about 50 feet from the [...]