June 25, 2008
2025: The Culture War hits home: Homophobia reinvented as a survival strategy
A dispatch from 2050 A.D.: We should have seen it coming. Or maybe we saw it and just didn’t care. Appearing late in the first decade of the new millennium, the first sign appeared, ironically, at the generically named Center on Halsted. Its gleaming lobby could have been, well... Full Story
Bi all the way: Celebrating the ‘B’ in GLBT
Although born in a foreign land, Chicagoan Liz Thomson is living a uniquely American life. Her rich biography combines elements familiar to many generations, such as the immigrant experience, with more recent developments in... Full Story
Lori Cannon, who runs the Open Hand Chicago/Vital Bridges food pantry in Edgewater, characterizes her facility as being “fueled by good intentions.” On Sept. 11, 2001, a number of executives, shaken by the deaths of colleagues in New... Full Story
Activists celebrate Pride in India
NEW DELHI—Several hundred gay activists plan to march in three Indian cities this weekend in the largest ever display of gay pride in a country where homosexuality is illegal, an activist said June 23... Full Story
LGBT music comes alive in Chicago
Queer musicians and lovers of queer music in Chicago have something to be proud of when it comes to live music. As of Pride 2008, there are at least four venues at which they can attend performances by a variety of artists geared towards... Full Story
Preserving a community’s history
Karen Sendziak says that, working at Gerber/Hart Library, she helps numerous researchers delve into GLBT history. “What we see are younger people working on their junior high school projects, and others... Full Story
Bishop rejects GLBT prayer service
MINNEAPOLIS—The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has told a liberal Roman Catholic church in Minneapolis that it can’t hold its annual gay pride prayer service because the event goes against... Full Story
Nation Report
Smith tries to defuse controversy over remarks
SALEM, Ore.—U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) is apologizing for creating confusion by linking the debate over same-sex marriage to persecution of his Mormon ancestors for practicing polygamy. Smith’s comments, which came during a gay rights forum in Washington, D.C., have become an issue in his re-election... Full Story
Anti-gay effort fails to gain support in Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine—A citizen’s initiative campaign to repeal Maine’s gay rights law and seeking roadblocks to gay marriages is being abandoned. The Christian Civic League of Maine’s Michael Heath says the evangelical group that led the push is “pulling the plug.” Heath says... Full Story
Gay man takes over as mayor of Santa Rosa
SANTA ROSA, Calif.—Santa Rosa’s city council has chosen a new mayor to replace Bob Blanchard, who died of cancer last weekend. Vice Mayor John Sawyer is taking over for Blanchard and is the city’s first openly gay mayor. He is filling the remaining six months of Blanchard’s term... Full Story
Court won’t let woman end custody agreement
COLUMBUS, Ohio—A woman trying to use Ohio’s gay marriage ban to end a child-custody arrangement with her former partner has lost an appeal on a technicality. Ruling against Denise Fairchild, a state appeals court in Columbus... Full Story
Pittsburgh approves employee domestic partner benefits
PITTSBURGH—Pittsburgh is recognizing long-term commitments of unmarried partners, allowing both gay and straight couples to share employee benefits. The bill passed June 17 in a 7-1 vote, bringing cheers from the audience... Full Story
Anti-gay groups drop initiative effort in Oregon
SALEM, Ore.—Social conservatives and church groups are admitting defeat in their efforts to qualify initiatives for this November’s ballot that would repeal two Oregon gay rights laws. The campaigns were aimed at derailing a domestic partnership... Full Story
Charges dropped in sex case involving ex-lawmaker
SPOKANE, Wash.—A former state lawmaker’s reluctance to testify led the Spokane County (Wash.) prosecutor’s office to drop all charges June 16 against a man who had been accused of trying to extort money from the legislator after a night of gay sex... Full Story
Editorial
Every year when Pride rolls around, we inevitably hear the same complaints: It’s become too commercial, there are too many politicians, it’s not political enough, the flamboyant few get all the attention... Full Story
Here’s another story about which to write. Gay pride is coming up—answer me some questions. Why don’t we march somewhere we are not preaching to the choir? Why march in... Full Story
Opinion
It is easy to feel like you’re not part of the community. I get letters like that sometimes, with readers wondering what community I’m talking about, exactly, when I say “the gay community.” Whatever I mean, they don’t feel part of it. Gay organizations don’t represent them, they say... Full Story
“What we have is a culture in which we no longer define ourselves according to our similarities but according to our differences. We are proud of our unique qualities and want everyone else to appreciate these traits, too. …We also devalue commonality in favor of radical uniqueness. We are more interested in freedom of expression... Full Story
Freetime
Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig, who pleaded guilty last year to soliciting sex from an undercover cop in a Minneapolis airport restroom, is now writing a book about his life in which he will again assert his innocence... Full Story
CANCER: JUNE 21-JULY 20: You can’t believe this is happening. It’s great to feel this good but you’ve got to see things for what they are before you continue with it. You could jump right in; but in this situation, let caution reign over impulse. More
CFP reviews 'Pleasure in the Sun' & 'More of a Man'. Full Story
Theater
It’s the perfect season for political humor. Comedians couldn’t ask for a more fertile current-events terrain or a more eclectic cast of politicians to mock. All of which puts the Second City e.t.c. troupe in prime position with their latest... Full Story
Talk about your one-hit wonders. Like novelist Harper Lee before her, Margaret Edson has bequeathed to the planet one stunning creation: The drama “Wit,” which premiered in 1995 and... Full Story
“I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself.” That quote from famed folksinger Woody Guthrie, brought to stunning life by BlindFaith Theatre in “Woody Guthrie’s American Song,” illustrates Guthrie’s unwavering compassion for... Full Story
News
It couldn’t have been, well, more normal. I’m talking about the marriage June 20 in Santa Rosa, Calif., between Chris Mahurin and Alex Holm. Of course, Mahurin and Holm, both 25, are just one of the hundreds of gay and lesbian couples who’ve rushed to get married in the Golden State since marriage for gays and lesbians... Full Story
The City of Chicago paid tribute to its GLBT servicemen and women June 23 at a ceremony in Daley Plaza. City officials and community activists came together both to express thanks to GLBT men and women in uniform and to call for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” William Greaves, director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations’ Advisory Council on LGBT Issues, first... Full Story
Hundreds attend mayor’s reception
At his annual reception at the honoring GLBT Chicagoans last week, Mayor Richard M. Daley again reaffirmed his support of gay marriage and heralded the contributions GLBTs make to the community... Full Story
Groups slam City’s cops for abuses
Amnesty International and several co-sponsoring organizations called on Chicago city leaders June 19 to hold police officers accountable for abuses towards GLBTs. At a press conference in front of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s office at City Hall, Ariel... Full Story
Dobson attacks Obama on religion
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement’s biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution... Full Story
Haggard returns to Colorado Springs
DENVER—The evangelist forced out of his job after being caught up in a sex scandal involving a male prostitute has left a “spiritual restoration program” and no longer has any ties to the megachurch he founded, the congregation’s new pastor said June 22... Full Story
LONDON—Heinz Co. said June 23 that viewer complaints prompted it to pull a British television advertisement for mayonnaise that showed two men kissing. The ad for Heinz Deli Mayo depicted a kitchen scene involving two children, a father and a... Full Story
Military discharges more lesbians
WASHINGTON—Servicemembers Legal Defense Network released new data June 23 showing that while women make up approximately 15 percent of the U.S. armed forces, they account for nearly half of all “don’t ask, don’t tell” discharges from the Army and Air Force... Full Story
Democrats don’t rush to end ‘DADT’
WASHINGTON—Democrats say the nation should be ashamed of its ban on gays serving openly in the military. It discourages qualified people from joining the ranks at a time when the armed forces are stretched by two wars, they say, and is degrading to those willing to serve their country. So what have the Democrats done about it? Nothing, really. Since taking control of Congress... Full Story
New York boosts services for trans juveniles
SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Transgender youth in New York’s juvenile detention centers can now wear whatever uniform they choose, be called by whatever name they want and ask for special housing under a new anti-discrimination policy that advocacy groups say is among... Full Story
FBI investigates trans beating
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Federal investigators are looking into the beating of a transgender woman who was hit repeatedly by a Memphis police officer while being arrested on a prostitution charge, the FBI said June 20. The beating was captured on videotape by a camera in the... Full Story
Thai schools add trans bathrooms
BANGKOK, Thailand—For teen boys who prefer to dress as girls at one rural high school in Thailand, taking a bathroom break no longer means choosing between “male” and “female” restrooms. There’s now a “transvestite toilet.... Full Story
Study: Herpes does not increase HIV risk
LONDON—Doctors have long suspected that people with herpes are more likely to catch HIV. So they thought that by treating herpes, they could also cut a person’s HIV risk. But a new study that tested this strategy found the assumption may have been wrong.
“It’s a significant, disappointing finding,” Francis Ndowa... Full Story
Gays rush to wed in the Golden State
SAN FRANCISCO—Wearing everything from T-shirts to tuxedos and lavish gowns, hundreds of same-sex couples rushed to county clerks’ offices throughout California to obtain marriage licenses and exchange vows as last-minute legal challenges to gay marriage failed... Full Story
California marriage referendum: Gay groups go to court, Mormons join fight
SAN FRANCISCO—Gay rights advocates asked California’s highest court June 20 to keep off the November ballot a citizens’ initiative that would again ban same-sex marriage. Lawyers for Equality California filed a petition arguing that the proposed amendment... Full Story
Virginia ponders legality of trans marriage
RICHMOND, Va.—The couple walked into a Norfolk courthouse on a spring day, exchanged a few words and, within 10 minutes, were seemingly husband and wife. It was an unremarkable ceremony—except that several weeks later, officials realized the... Full Story
OSLO, Norway—Gay couples in Norway were granted the same rights as heterosexuals to marry, adopt and undergo artificial insemination under a new equality law passed June 17. Norway’s upper house of parliament voted 23-17 in favor... Full Story
LONDON—The two most senior clergymen in the Church of England reaffirmed June 17 that priests are banned from blessing gay unions, giving their first reaction to reports of a ceremony for two male priests at a London church... Full Story
Spahr marries couple in new challenge
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.—A retired Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister challenged her denomination’s position on same-sex marriage June 20 by officiating the wedding of two women who wanted to be among the first couples to legally marry in California... Full Story
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—A local hospital is investigating a claim by a lesbian couple that a physician told them same-sex unions are contrary to his Christian beliefs. The incident occurred at Spectrum Health’s South Pavilion in Cutlerville. Ashleigh... Full Story
Survey shows Americans often disregard religious leaders
America remains a deeply religious nation, but a new survey finds most Americans don’t believe their tradition is the only way to eternal life—even if the denomination’s teachings say otherwise. The findings, revealed June 23 in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive... Full Story
Freestyle: arts, entertainment & lifestyle
f blinking marquees and hard concrete (after all, we’ve got plenty of that here in Chicago), with minimal effort you can swap Manhattan skyscrapers for a relaxing oceanside escape. Just head to Fire Island, that fabled gay getaway, immortalized in novels such... Full Story
If you’re looking for exciting theater, there’s never any need to leave Chicago. If you ever doubted that truism, last week’s Tony Awards should’ve made you blush, considering the many trophies bestowed on Chicago... Full Story
Once gay Pride was a concept celebrated in but a few major U.S. cities. Today GLBT Pride—that colorful unification of people and causes from diverse backgrounds—is observed in locales around the world and in every state of the United States, from suburbs to small towns to metropolises... Full Story
‘Kiss’ and tell: An interview with C. Jay Cox
Out screenwriter and director C. Jay Cox doesn’t like to get up early in the morning. According to him, “It’s the worst thing ever.” But he was good enough to do so for this interview in which we talked about his new movie “Kiss The Bride.” Cox, who co-wrote the screen... Full Story
SAT. JUNE 28: The Laureates, with Bunny Grunt and the Fake Fictions, play Ronny’s Bar, 2101 N. California, at 9 p.m. Call (773) 278-7170. More
After years of augmenting their exotic and experimental electronic sonic creations with sounds from other sources, gay San Francisco-based electro duo Matmos—Drew Daniel and Martin C. Schmidt—has delivered its first all-synthesizer album, the soaring “Supreme... Full Story
Dallas-based lesbian artist Ginger Fox has developed an appealing style of painting—she calls it “organic surrealism”—in which she combines the natural with the artificial or imagined... Full Story
“Get Smart” (Warner Brothers)—In the tradition of 1960s sitcoms making less than notable transitions to the big screen (see “The Beverly Hillbillies”), “Get Smart” joins the ranks, and if you’re smart, you’ll wait for it on DVD... Full Story
If you’re planning on taking advantage of the California Supreme Court decision overturning the gay marriage ban in sunny California and heading out to have a wedding, check out the special offering from the Wyndham Orange County... Full Story
Houseboat living: Home with a water view
Ever feel like chucking the house, the mortgage and the maintenance fees and doing something really adventurous for a change? How does living on a boat strike you? All over the world, people... Full Story
