Charges dismissed against gay man and trans woman who could have faced life in jail in Uganda
They had been accused of being a gay couple ‘posing’ as a husband and wife
gregh
Daily Archives: October 22, 2014
SHAME & FEAR – LGBT & NORMAL – Worthy of Love & Belonging!
SHAME & FEAR – LGBT & NORMAL – Worthy of Love & Belonging!
TOPIC: Most of us experienced shaming and damaging messages during our lifetime, from parents, friends, society, etc., because we were perceived to be different. In what ways were you shamed,…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMhtc2nbXnU&feature=youtube_gdata
WATCH: In Pat Robertson's Latest Diatribe, Gays Are 'Terrorists'
WATCH: In Pat Robertson's Latest Diatribe, Gays Are 'Terrorists'
The right-wing televangelist adds to his string of homophobic hits.
Stevie St. John
We Count, So Count Us: Three Reasons It's Important to Collect Census Data on LGBTQ People
We Count, So Count Us: Three Reasons It's Important to Collect Census Data on LGBTQ People
“One in 10 is not enough! Recruit! Recruit! Recruit!”
It was my favorite chant as a young queer activist, and its echo stays with me today. It was funny, sure, and poked fun at the fear of a million cowering conservatives. The chant was based on sexologist Alfred Kinsey’s famous claim that 10 percent of men in the U.S. are gay, and that number was widely adopted as an estimate for how many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals live in the U.S. — even though the LGBTQ community didn’t have thorough research to back it up. But it was my favorite because it made me look around every day and wonder: Who were the other three LGBTQ students in my class? Who were the other four LGBTQ riders on my subway train? Who were the other five LGBTQ people in my extended family? The number gave me hope and told me that I wasn’t alone.
At the same time, that chant gave me power. If we, the LGBTQ community, were a countable percentage of the population, we could all stand with one voice and demand respect, an end to anti-LGBTQ violence, and equality.
It never really occurred to me to question the number itself. Where did it come from? To be quite honest, I didn’t care. I didn’t think it mattered. Someone had counted, so we knew that we counted.
Twenty years later I realize that the counting really does matter. Data collection (as we math and law nerds call it) gets us money, power, health, housing, jobs, schools, food, and rights.
Is it really that important? Yes. Here’s why:
It gives us political traction.
If you’re not a voting bloc, you can’t sway politicians. Like it or not, politicians make the decisions that rule our lives. They decide who has protection from discrimination, who can become a citizen, how much we pay in taxes, what we’re taught in school, who can get married. The existence of the LGBTQ vote is dependent on our ability to prove that we are a large-enough group of people that we can sway elections. In other words, we only count if we are counted.
Perhaps more importantly, being counted gives us consumer power. As powerful as politicians are, corporations dwarf them in both number and reach. Exactly 737 corporations control 80 percent of the world’s economy. In 2010 the Supreme Court decided that corporations are permitted to spend as much as they want to get candidates elected. A recent report by the Center for Public Integrity showed that corporations contributed at least $173 million to political nonprofits in 2012. Although there is an ethical minority of politicians who are indifferent to the whims of their funders, there are many who feel beholden to their corporate sponsors.
Our population numbers make us attractive to the corporate decision makers who hold the purse strings to our cultural and political lives. As they become aware of the purchasing power of millions of LGBTQ people, we become a demographic they market to and design products for and, most importantly, a population they can’t afford to ignore or disrespect as they throw their weight around in the political arena. Money makes power, and as we are counted, we amass power through our ability to affect the decisions of major corporations.
All of that is real, but there’s a more important reason for us to be counted:
It tells us how to fix things.
LGBTQ people experience disparities in almost every quantifiable way: We’re more likely to live in poverty, more likely to be homeless, more likely to struggle with addiction, more likely to experience health conditions like diabetes and lung cancer, more likely to be unemployed, more likely to go to jail, more likely to experience sexual assault, more likely to experience violence, more likely to contract HIV. I could go on. At the risk of sounding depressing, statistically we’re screwed.
That’s where data collection comes in. Without an accurate picture of the disparities we face, we can’t figure out how to address them. Think about jobs: We know that lesbian, gay and bisexual adults are unemployed at a rate 40-percent higher than the overall unemployment rate, and transgender adults are twice as likely to unemployed as the overall average. But if we don’t have data on how many of us graduate from high school, college, or trade schools, or how many of us have been fired because of our actual or perceived gender identity, we can’t know how to reduce that disparity.
The same applies to every other medical, scientific, and sociological disparity faced by our community. If we don’t know how many of us are facing a particular issue, we can’t know how to address it.
Both political power and ability to effectively address our needs are critically important. Still, for me, the need for data collection comes back to the same thing as it did when I was a 15-year-old activist:
It gives us hope.
We count. That’s why I joined the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations. I want our government to accurately count us because it gives us power, tells us how to make life better for our community, and gives us hope. We need to know that we’re one of many. In the committee, I will press the Census Bureau to help us prove that, by adding questions to the census and other surveys about sexual orientation and gender identity. I hope you help me and support the LGBTQ community by standing up when it’s your turn to be counted. That way we can show that not only are we not alone but we are a large, diverse and politically significant community that has a key part to play in the future of our country.
Lesbian military veteran wins approval to be buried with late spouse at veterans cemetery
Lesbian military veteran wins approval to be buried with late spouse at veterans cemetery
‘Idaho is where some of our best memories together are and it’s where I want to spend eternity with Jean’
Jamesw
We Are In Kansas City For the World Series, And It’s Pretty Darn Gay
We Are In Kansas City For the World Series, And It’s Pretty Darn Gay
Batter up, boys, it’s World Series season here in America, in case you didn’t know. This is the 110th World Series, with the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals fighting for the title. Baseball non-fans may be tempted to throw their casual support behind San Francisco simply because of the city’s reputation as a mecca. How unfortunate, however, it is to so easily turn one’s nose up at the thought of Kansas City.
True, not every neighborhood of the city is glamorous. Carol Burnett created her famous “Mama’s Family” sketch when her tour bus broke down in the Kansas City suburb of Raytown, and she met some of the locals. However, every city has its ups and downs. Ever been to the the Marina in San Francisco? Probably not, and there are many reasons why.
So wipe that furrowed, judgmental brow off your faces right now. It may be easy to dismiss places like Kansas City as fly-over country before you get to an exciting city like San Francisco. Those who take time to get to know Kansas City may find some delightful surprises that would even impress the most jaded urbanite.
1) This is the place, darling: Like many cities across the U.S., Kansas City’s core is being revitalized by urban pioneers looking for a multi-cultural, pedestrian-friendly experience without worries of finding decent schools for their not-yet-existent children. Urban renewal has historically been the frontier of the gays, but in Kansas City the general hipster population has joined the march to downtown, thanks to an unusual tech boom in the city.
The New York Times took note of Kansas City’s tech boom, partly a result of jobs from companies like Sprint and Garmin, which are located in the ‘burbs; however, perhaps the most exciting draw is Google’s choice to use Kansas City as a test market for Google Fiber, which delivers screaming-fast internet service at speeds normally seen in South Korean computer labs. Throw some cheap urban real estate into the mix, and the city is internet start-up heaven. Millenials, ages 25-34, make up 25% of Kansas City’s urban core’s population. So thank Google Fiber because getting online and finding a millenial lad of your own is that much quicker.
2) Names, darling, names names names: This may take a little bit of time to convince some of the retail snobs out there. However, we heretofore make a claim: one of the best men’s clothing stores on Earth is in Kansas City.
Hallmark, known for making greeting cards, is headquartered in Kansas City, in an office/retail complex called Crown Center. Beneath the cubicles filled with artists drawing birthday cards, the company also owns a department store called Halls, and it is glorious.
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, much of the department store chain population in the U.S. was poached by Macy’s, which now operates over 800 stores. This means shoppers everywhere are subjected to the whims of the same handful of buyers who fill their stores’ racks with what Tim Gunn would refer to as “just clothes.”
Halls is a rare gem in the retail arena: it is an only child, unique to Kansas City, one of the last great independent department stores in the country, and its racks are filled with fashion artistry.
Prada, Gucci, Zegna, plus a collection of lesser-known designers like Andrew Marc and Moods of Norway, with leather jackets, ready-to-wear, and did we mention the shoes?…it’s almost too much.
It certainly begs the question, Who in Kansas City is buying these clothes? A visit to any of the gay bars in town is a feast of locals wearing plaid button-down shirts and jeans, and they are probably not wearing the $50 socks sold at Halls. But who cares? Get thee to Halls and buy yourself a Belstaff coat, or at least stop by just to drool.
3) But is it art, Eddie? Contemporary art is heartily embraced here in The Heartland. Officials at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the city’s premier art museum, famously commissioned an installation of giant shuttlecocks around the museum’s lawn, as if giants were playing badminton, because they felt the pillared edifice of the museum was too stuffy.
Design in all of its forms is a part of life in the city. DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation for Fighting AIDS, has a thriving chapter in Kansas City, started long ago by local.
Several urban neighborhoods have blossomed with revitalization, and much of the credit goes to the local art and design community. The Crossroads Arts District, is dotted with live/work gallery spaces and restaurants; also the River Market area centers on a downtown farmer’s market selling locally-sourced produce, and is surrounded with shops, design offices and gentrified lofts. The Kansas City Art Institute churns out artists who fill the old warehouses from industrial days gone by, and K.C. plays host to a “First Fridays” art gallery walk in The Crossroads, which is fun for about 20 minutes and then all the art looks the same, but alcohol is usually involved and who doesn’t love that?
Of course, all those artists and other related hipsters need coffee. Locally-roasted coffee booms in Kansas City and the scent of roasting beans often fills the air. Try one of the locations for Filling Station, or Mildred’s. If you want to hang with suburban yoga moms who complain about the warranties on their SUVs, try The Roasterie.
4) Champagne for Lulu! There are a bunch of gay bars in Kansas City, and a few of them get busy on weekends, but the big dance clubs of yesteryear have all closed. No matter. KC is all about the restaurants. Anthony Bourdain, the patron saint of all things gastronomically relevant, devoted an episode of “No Reservations” to Kansas City, a result of his love of the city’s famous barbecue culture. Asking the locals about their favorite barbecue restaurants often invokes passionate debate about smoke vs. sauce and where to get it. But there is more to the city than meat: Le Fou Frog is a French foodie’s utopia with foie gras and escargot accompanied by a stellar wine list, Little Freshie in the Westside neighborhood serves the best organic snowcone you have ever had in your life, and The American (pictured) is the only Forbes 4-star restaurant in the city and, for whatever it’s worth, anywhere in Missouri. Or Kansas.
And while we’re on the subject: Is Kansas City in Kansas or Missouri? Actually it’s in both. The Kansas City metro area straddles the state line between Kansas and Missouri, which primarily follows the Missouri River. Kansas City, Missouri was established first, named after the Kansa Tribe of Native Americans in the area. This was all before the state of Kansas existed. When the city boomed, investors moved to the other side of the river, stole the name, and formed Kansas City, Kansas, to capitalize on the existing city’s fame as a trading port.
Now the cities sit side-by-side along with numerous suburb towns, and a street runs north-south dividing the two states. Stand on the east side of the yellow line and you’re in Missouri; stand on the west side, and you’re in Kansas. Liquor laws in Missouri are not as strict, so Kansas residents often drive over the state line to the better liquor stores on the Missouri side.
Sporting Kansas City soccer is in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas City Royals baseball stadium and Chiefs football stadium are in Missouri, ironically in Carol Burnett’s favorite suburb, Raytown.
Dan Renzi
Bryan Singer and 'Queer as Folk' Actress Michelle Clunie Expecting a Child
Bryan Singer and 'Queer as Folk' Actress Michelle Clunie Expecting a Child
X-Men director Bryan Singer and actress Michelle Clunie (Queer as Folk) are expecting a child, Singer’s rep Simon Halls announced to E!’s Marc Malkin:
“I can confirm that Michelle Clunie and Bryan Singer are happily expecting a baby together in early 2015. Best friends for 25 years, mother and father are both very excited about the upcoming birth and look forward to co-parenting the child together. The pair have been planning this baby for years and have been trying for the last two.”
Singer came out as bisexual in May while fighting sexual abuse charges in a lawsuit that was later withdrawn, and releasing his 10th feature film, X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Since her role as Melanie Marcus in Queer as Folk, Clunie has played a recurring character on Make It or Break It and has had numerous guest appearances on shows such as Bones, NCIS, The Mentalist, The Closer, and CSI.
Andy Towle
Lanzamiento de "Nicolás tiene 2 Papás" / @Movilh 2014
The Kinetic Presence of Alexis Gregory
The Kinetic Presence of Alexis Gregory
Alexis Gregory (photo by Jay Barry Matthews)
Alexis Gregory is one of the most electric and versatile young actors working today. As a favorite in seminal British filmmaker and playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair’s Kick Off, FIT and Stonewall, Gregory has created characters who combine intense vulnerability and steely strength with a healthy sprinkling of sexiness and ruthless pragmatism. As Beadle-Blair might put it, Alexis Gregory knows how to be “in the room.”
When asked how he got into the acting industry, he says he found his agent at the age of 15 and got to work immediately amassing an impressive résumé in film, TV and commercials. “Looking back,” he says, “I can see that as a child, I made it all happen. I was a determined young thing when I wanted to be.”
This determination helped him create his most challenging role to date, a feisty transgender woman named Dominique, in his play Slap, which was performed at Theatre Royal Stratford East and showcased on Channel 4 as the channel’s first-ever on-site theatrical presentation. Regarding his professional experience as an openly gay actor, Gregory says that “it doesn’t come without complications or hurdles, but I am very honest in my work as a writer, and in my own life too. I couldn’t do it any other way at this stage. I have struggled with it in the past, though, and have had to go on my own journey with it all, as well.”
This journey has led him to write and perform the lead role in his second play, Bright Skin Light, which is currently in development. The piece is about a gay son reunited with his gay father, who abandoned the family 20 years earlier. It is a play that examines the early years of the AIDS crisis in London and current responses to the virus, as well as themes of art, family, love, addiction, loss and redemption, set over the course of a morning in a critical-care unit in a London hospital.
“I am also developing Safe,” he says, “a piece of verbatim theater for the Albert Kennedy Trust, which is a charity that supports homeless and at-risk LGBT youth. The piece will be made up of the actual words spoken to me in the interviews, including those of a trans woman whose story of survival is quite astonishing; a gay trans man who is not only having to learn to navigate society as a man now but as a gay man too; and also a young Nigerian-born gay man who, when living over here with his family, was outed to them and had to escape from being sent back to Nigeria for ‘curing.'”
When asked whether he feels that there is still a long way to go for gay actors and performers in the UK, his answer is yes. “Obviously it’s getting better,” he says, “but being out and gay can stop you getting auditions for straight roles, and I have actor friends who are advised by industry figures to stay in the closet and not post pictures of themselves with their boyfriends on Facebook. It is a complicated issue, though, and I am by no means pointing a singular finger at the industry. I think you just have to get on with it and do your own thing. I have been writing about a world that I inhabit and my own take on it, and this is what has got me noticed as a writer, so I have no complaints. Embracing and writing about my truth has opened doors for me. I hope it continues to do so.”
Pat Robertson: Gays are acting like 'terrorists – they’re radicals and they’re extremists'
Pat Robertson: Gays are acting like 'terrorists – they’re radicals and they’re extremists'
Anti-gay TV evangelist says it’s time pastors fight against this ‘monstrous thing’ of being forced not to discriminate
gregh