July 2, 2008
450,000 turn out on streets of Boystown
A few downpours and delays were not enough to dampen the spirit of most revelers who turned out for the 2008 Gay Pride Parade in Chicago. Parade officials estimated that about 450,000 people lined the parade route from Belmont and Halsted to Halsted and Broadway, and back down... Full Story
Weddings celebrated at San Francisco Pride
SAN FRANCISCO—A lesbian motorcycle group dressed in wedding gowns and wearing bridal veils lent a matrimonial touch to San Francisco’s gay pride parade June 29 as revelers celebrated their newfound freedom to marry. The riders tossed bouquets as they led the city’s 38th annual gay pride parade down Market... Full Story
Hundreds of people carried the GLBT Pride message through Pilsen June 28 in the annual Dyke March Chicago. DMC organizers moved the event to the South Side for the first time and the march headed west from 18th and South Halsted through the heart of Pilsen, ending with a rally in Harrison... Full Story
SOFIA, Bulgaria—Extremists throwing rocks, bottles and gasoline bombs attacked the Bulgarian capital’s first gay pride parade June 28. Police say they prevented the extremists from harming the 150 or so people in the procession through Sofia. No serious injuries were reported. Police say they detained about 60 people... Full Story
Nation Report
Army discharges gay soldier who spoke out
WASHINGTON—Decorated Army Sergeant Darren Manzella has been discharged under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law banning lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans from military service, effective June 10. The Iraq war veteran was the first openly gay active duty service member to speak with the media while serving inside a war zone. In December... Full Story
Anti-gay marriage proposal wins vote in Arizona
PHOENIX—Arizona voters decide in November whether to change the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. A 16-4 vote by the Arizona Senate June 27 sent the proposal to the ballot, the second time in two years that Arizona voters are being asked to consider a gay marriage proposal... Full Story
Another Memphis cop resigns over role in beating
MEMPHIS, Tenn.—A second Memphis police officer has been fired for beating a transgender woman. Patrol officer Bridges McRae, 28, was fired June 25 during an administrative hearing. The beating, captured on videotape by a camera in the Memphis jail, showed the woman being hit repeatedly while being arrested on a prostitution charge last February... Full Story
Gay swim meet boasts 152 record-breakers
WASHINGTON—An astounding 152 swimming records were broken during the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics Championships in Washington, DC from June 19–22. Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen and former Olympian Glenn Mills were particularly impressive, breaking six International... Full Story
LCR praises gun ruling, but Daley disagrees
WASHINGTON—Log Cabin Republicans applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling June 26 striking down a 32-year-old ban on hand guns in Washington, D.C. “This is an excellent decision for all Americans—gay and straight,” said LCR President Patrick Sammon. “We’re grateful the U.S. Supreme Court... Full Story
Opinion
What does it mean to be an American? Some people seem to think it means wearing a flag pin. Or slapping a “Support Our Troops” bumper sticker on the family auto. Or singing “God Bless America.” Or putting our hand over our hearts when the national anthem plays. But these things have nothing to do with... Full Story
Last year U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R.-Texas) announced that he was running for president in the GOP primaries. During the winter and spring months, there developed a small boomlet for Paul based on his advocacy of a strict adherence to the Constitution’s limits on federal power, fiscal austerity and prompt withdrawal from U.S. military ventures... Full Story
Editorial
It was a great speech Michelle Obama gave to the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council June 26 in New York. Obama went point by promising point, pledging her husband’s active support to pass employment protections for GLBTs, end the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian personnel and repeal... Full Story
I was happy to see Matt Simonette’s article, “Tunney bill tweaks DP ordinance,” about Ald. Tom Tunney’s effort to protect partnership benefits for gay and lesbian city employees who marry in states where same-sex marriage is legal. A similar Cook County amendment, introduced by Comm. Mike Quigley... Full Story
Freetime
I was delighted to read that the head of Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education, Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raul, has succeeded in convincing the government to authorize free sex-change operations to those who qualify. But, when you think about it... Full Story
TAURUS: Your practical side can make anything happen. Before you decide where you need to take this, consider your motives. Money isn’t everything. As you get closer to making your final decision it should not be your main priority. More
IN STITCHES, 2740 N. Racine, is selling a needlepoint kit for framing or pillow that reads “God Save the Queens” on a British flag. Described as 13 inches square in red, white and blue, on No. 10 canvas, with 100-percent Persian wool, needle and directions, for $19.95... Full Story
DVDiva: More joy, less division
“Control” (Weinstein Company Home Entertainment)—Famed photographer and music video mastermind Anton Corbijn makes his feature length debut with the accomplished black and white biopic “Control,” the story of the band Joy Division and, more specifically, the late lead singer Ian Curtis, who committed suicide at the age of... Full Story
CFP reviews "San Francisco" & "Pillow Talk 3". Full Story
News
So if gays and lesbians getting married spells the end of the institution of marriage, as the anti-gay witch doctors proclaim, then someone please explain how that jibes with the fact that county clerks in California gave out more than two and a half times as many licenses as normal in the first week that gays and... Full Story
Ryan White’s mom talks about fight with AIDS
The Center on Halsted observed National HIV Awareness Day June 27 with a morning-long forum that included a keynote presentation given by Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White. White-Ginder described her son’s initial bouts with hemophilia, his diagnosis with AIDS... Full Story
AIDS activists, most of them students from area medical schools, gathered in front of the Federal Plaza offices of U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin and Barack Obama June 26 to call for the timely passage of new legislation expanding funding to fight HIV/AIDS.
The protest, organized by members of the American... Full Story
Cook County set to update partner benefits ordinance
Legislation advanced last week that said Cook County employees in same-sex relationships would not lose domestic partner benefits if they were to marry in California or other places allowing gay marriage. The legislation is similar to that proposed by Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) last week for city employees. Under the current... Full Story
Joe La Pat, an Army veteran and a long-time supporter of Chicago charities, died suddenly and unexpectedly in his home June 29. La Pat, 64, and his partner of 39 years, Dick Uyvari, were frequent backers of numerous gay organizations, including the Center on Halsted and Gay Games VII in Chicago... Full Story
Congress holds hearing on trans issues
Two members of Congress joined experts and advocates June 26 in testifying before the U.S. House Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee about transgender issues. The hearing marked the first time that any U.S. Congressional committee has held a hearing devoted exclusively to transgender issues... Full Story
Michelle Obama pledges support for GLBT rights
NEW YORK—Barack Obama will fight for equal rights for gays just as he fought to help working-class families overcome poverty, the Democratic presidential hopeful’s wife told a gay Democratic group June 26. Recalling his past work as a community organizer to help struggling families, Michelle Obama said he would take the same approach as president... Full Story
Freestyle: arts, entertainment & lifestyle
Chicago’s Leather Archives & Museum is hosting a group art exhibition titled “YES: The Soul of a Sexual Outlaw.” The exhibition of a dozen paintings, drawings and photographs is designed to draw a distinction between “old guard” leather and its leather fetishism and a “new guard” of men involved in kinky sex or exotic fantasies but not... Full Story
Sun-kissed and super-protected
Save your skin was the message a team of volunteers passed along to golf enthusiasts at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in Havre de Grace, Md., in mid-June. The messengers, as they urged LPGA fans to screen the sun, used whisper words in any community: “Cancer... Full Story
Her ‘Turn’: An interview with Alison Moyet
The first thing most people think of when you mention the name Alison Moyet is the voice. Booming, yet beautiful. Powerful and persuasive, yet sensuous and soothing. Moyet first surfaced on our radar as one half of groundbreaking 1980s electro duo Yaz, along with former Depeche Mode member Vince... Full Story
United Center, 1901 W. Madison, presents Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Steve Winwood at 7:30 p.m. Call (312) 455-4500. More
Coming as it did after the musically significant and varied decades of the 1960s and 1970s, it took the 1980s a little while to establish an identity. But once it did, via the rise of college radio for instance, there was no turning back. Minneapolis was a hot spot during the 1980s. Prince grabbed our attention in the... Full Story
“The Gits” (Liberation)—Kerri O’Kane’s documentary “The Gits,” about the Seattle band of the same name, draws our attention to the Pacific Northwest in the same way that “Kurt Cobain: About a Son” did “Not a story about a Seattle band, a punk rock band or a band with a woman lead singer,” O’Kane’s doc is the story of... Full Story
A Hot ‘Pride’ Concert: CGMC Plays the Lakeview Presbyterian Church
Music director Patrick Sinozich described “The Boys Are Back in Town,” last weekend’s Pride concert, as a chance to catch the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus “naked.” (No, not that way, and certainly not in a church.) Except for the solo performers, there were no mikes... Full Story
When a restaurant has a pedigree like that of Shochu (pronounced show-chew), it can be hard to live up to expectations. The newish Lakeview lounge/restaurant is owned by the husband and wife duo of Lynne Wallack and John Handler and the executive chef is Josh Hansen, all from the Deleece... Full Story
Home furnishing stores taking a hit
NEW YORK—Mobs of fans greeted the opening last week of build-it-yourself furniture chain IKEA’s first store in New York City but the fervor is masking shoppers’ underlying frugality. Even the most loyal followers of the Swedish leader in low-priced but sleek home decor are thinking twice about buying... Full Story
Theater
From one angle (at least), a spoof such as “Gutenberg! The Musical!” is critic-proof. After all, its premise is that we, the audience, are watching a tryout of a really lame show, a tryout acted and sung by its two hopelessly naïve writers in an attempt to win Broadway-producer backing. So when someone—say, oh, this very critic—leaves... Full Story
“Lesbians Who Kill”, inspired by Aileen Wuornos’ 1990 killing spree and the often emotionally complex relationships between butch and femme women, is a surprisingly entertaining delight. The truths contained within the vaudevillian rhythms of the piece are also vitally realistic to... Full Story
There’s a good play, somewhere, buried inside the convoluted “Questa,” but it would take a helluva lot of editing to find it. Or a different medium entirely could release this twisted drama to be what it really wishes to be: With a myriad of plot points—a gay-bashing, a murder, a hidden pregnancy... Full Story
