October 22, 2008
Palin breaks with McCain on gay marriage amendment
NEW YORK—Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin says she supports a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a break with John McCain who has said he believes states should be left to define what marriage is. In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, the Alaska governor said she had voted in 1998 for a state... Full Story / Comment
Editorial
It’s time to move on. With only weeks left until the close of a trying and endless election cycle, Americans will soon head for the polls to choose the 44th President of the United States. CFP is endorsing Barack Obama. Throughout this election, as well as his service as... Full Story / Comment
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida announces that Heather Gillman has been selected by the Playboy Foundation to receive the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award for “her fearlessness in speaking out on behalf of the rights of gay students” at her Ponce de Leon high school, located in Florida’s Panhandle... Full Story / Comment
Freestyle: arts, entertainment & lifestyle
In the run-up to the Nov. 4 presidential election, three Chicago galleries are all hosting exhibitions of “political” art: the Center on Halsted, the downtown Loyola Museum of Art and the DePaul University Museum of Art... Full Story / Comment
Freeview: movie reviews and calendar
“The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela” (Regent/here!)— According to filmmaker Olaf De Fleur, director of “The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela” (Regent/here!), transsexual women in ancient myths were feminine but strong, guardians of kingdoms. De Fleur goes on to say that today many of them live outside... Full Story / Comment
The soon to be single Madonna comes to town for some love and adoration tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. at the United Center, 1901 W. Madison. Call (312) 455-4500... More / Comment
Oy! It’s not clear why, but this reviewer feels anything but “safe” when listening to “Safe” (RJN/Centaur) by gay Christian pair Jason and deMarco. Of the two U2 covers near the beginning of the disc, the warmly tropical reading of “Where The Sun Meets the Sea” is an improvement over their... Full Story / Comment
Wimbledon is over for the year. So is the U.S. Open. But the calendar continues to bring thrills for tennis fans, for players who dream of taking the center court against Venus Williams or who dream of escorting Rafael Nadal anywhere... Full Story / Comment
Lockwood retains Palmer House’s elegant legacy
When I heard that the Palmer House was getting a renovation, I was concerned. As one of the last remnants of Chicago’s historical buildings, it has retained the elegant feeling of a time long past. During holiday shopping I would often stop for a brief rest in the lobby of the grand old dame... Full Story / Comment
Buenos Aires: Steak and the tango on a budget
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, is a cosmopolitan city best experienced through its monumental passions rather than its monuments. Argentines adore steak and red wine dinners that stretch on for hours, the sultry nostalgia of tango dance halls, a nail-biting match between... Full Story / Comment
Freetime
Midlife Crisis: No. 234 Clothes Maketh the Wo-Man
President Salva Kir of South Sudan recently put a stop to police arresting women who violated the decent dress code. Overzealous cops busted the women for “disturbing the peace” by wearing tight pants. The police claimed tight pants are the first step on a slippery slope into youth gangs... Full Story / Comment
TAURUS: You’ve been hoodwinked by someone who saw you coming. At the moment this feels pretty good; but love is blind and boy, are you asleep to what’s going on here. I’d tell you to smarten up but you’re so spellbound it’d be futile... More / Comment
“Night of the Living Dead” (Dimension Home Entertainment)— If the restored and re-mastered “Night of the Living Dead” tells us anything, it’s that George A. Romero’s 1968 zombie classic still has the power to thrill and chill. Even without the special effects that fans of horror flicks have come... Full Story / Comment
Back in the day: moments in chicago’s GLBT history
This Week In 1978: The lesbian and gay male facilitators of Oasis House hold a personal growth workshop at their center, 7463 N. Sheridan. Oasis House is a part of the human potential movement... Full Story / Comment
CFP reviews 'Oh Brother' & 'Collin O'Neal's World of Men: Santo Domingo'. Full Story / Comment
News
Vice President Dick Cheney canceled a campaign event he was scheduled to attend Wednesday in Homer Glen, after he experienced an abnormal heartbeat on Wednesday morning. Instead he underwent an outpatient procedure to “restore his normal rhythm.” This is the second time in less than a year that he had the procedure. I didn’t know old white men had rhythm... Full Story / Comment
Man found dead in restaurant basement
A Chicago man was found bound and fatally wounded Oct. 15 in the basement of a Lakeview restaurant. Randy Hilderbrandt, 57, who was gay, was discovered about 2:20 p.m. in the basement of Lucca’s Restaurant, 2834 N. Southport Ave., after police responded to a 911 call. He had been a manager of the restaurant for several years... Full Story / Comment
Scientists bleak about AIDS vaccine prospects
CAPE TOWN, South Africa—The global economic turmoil is likely to take its toll on AIDS research funding and add to the problems plaguing the search for a vaccine against the virus, scientists warned Tuesday. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious... Full Story / Comment
Gay marriage proponents to deliver protest letters
SALT LAKE CITY—A group of Mormons who support gay marriage said Thursday they plan to deliver 300 protest letters and a petition to church headquarters. The group signingforsomething.org disagrees with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ support for California’s Proposition... Full Story / Comment
NY court hears challenge in gay marriages case
ALBANY, N.Y.—New York’s recent policy change granting health benefits to spouses of gay state workers was challenged Oct. 15 in a midlevel appeals court, where opponents said it was a fundamental change in social policy that only lawmakers can enact... Full Story / Comment
Chicago Public Schools announced Friday that it has delayed a Board of Education vote on the Pride Campus annex of the Social Justice High School. The vote, originally scheduled for Oct. 22, will likely be pushed back until the Nov. 19 Board of Education meeting, according to William Greaves, director of the Chicago Commission on Human... Full Story / Comment
NY governor’s aide failed to pay taxes for 5 years
ALBANY, N.Y.—Gov. David Paterson’s chief of staff, who blamed clinical depression on the more than $200,000 he had to repay in five years of back taxes, has the full confidence of his boss, the governor’s spokeswoman said Saturday... Full Story / Comment
Calif. presidential contest all but afterthought
LOS ANGELES—Four years ago, George W. Bush crushed John Kerry in Stanislaus County, a Republican stronghold in California’s Central Valley, by 18 points. In neighboring San Joaquin Valley, not far from the San Francisco Bay area, the president’s winning margin was 7 points... Full Story / Comment
Activists gear up for Dobson protest
Activists from the Gay Liberation Network, Equality Illinois and Truth Wins Out, among other organizations, gathered Thursday in front of the Renaissance Hotel, 1 W. Wacker, in anticipation of a planned Nov. 8 protest at a dinner honoring, among others, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson... Full Story / Comment
SACRAMENTO—Nine of the 15 members of American River College’s student association are facing a recall election after voting to support a ballot measure seeking to ban gay marriage. The vote last month in favor of Proposition 8 sent the suburban Sacramento campus into an uproar... Full Story / Comment
Opinion
It’s time once again for our popular feature, “Ask Mr. Political Pundit,” in which the all-wise, all-knowing Mr. Political Pundit answers questions from clueless readers... Full Story / Comment
My friends, I’d like you to meet someone, a true American, a great American: Jane the Plumber. Jane, my friends, is an actual plumber, as opposed to that Joe the Plumber guy, who didn’t have a plumber license and may have been related to a big financial scandal... Full Story / Comment
Theater
The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler
If you wanted to choose a protagonist to explore the metafictional underworld inhabited by all the characters ever created, Hedda Gabler probably wouldn’t be the first choice that leaps to mind—but she’s a brilliant one. The titular anti-heroine of Henrik Ibsen’s classic tragedy, Gabler still exerts... Full Story / Comment
It was the first time an English king was depicted as gay. In 1593, Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethans’ other great gay playwright, wrote “The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward II, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer.” His harrowing, cautionary play spins the unedifying... Full Story / Comment
Like “Our Lady of 121st Street” and “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” Stephen Guirgis’ similarly titled “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train” betrays the playwright’s obsession with religion, especially its curious capacity to forgive the seemingly unpardonable. Guirgis sends his characters out to find out how much... Full Story / Comment
