Opinion: What should we expect from Obama?

The President-elect’s choice of anti-gay pastor Rick Warren to deliver his inaugural invocation has drawn fire from GLBT-rights advocates and led to widespread speculation about what kind of leadership a Barack Obama administration will show on our issues... Full Story / Comment

More predictions for 2009

Although it’s impossible to predict the future (who saw the passage of Prop 8 coming?), CFP tapped into its inner Miss Cleo and dug up a handful of pretty safe bets as to what might make headlines in the New Year. From further debates on gay marriage to a possible impeachment of Illinois’ governor, here are a few topics to pay attention to in 2009... Full Story / Comment

Freestyle

Winter 2009 movie preview

To call the post-Christmas winter movie season slow is an understatement. It’s that time of year when some of the least memorable movies are trotted out to the multiplexes. The problem is that with cabin fever at an all-time high, people are looking for excuses to get out of the house and a decent selection of movies might just be the excuse they need. That, and the popcorn and nachos... Full Story / Comment

Freeview: movie reviews and calendar

“Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks/Paramount Vantage)—The first of prolific novelist Richard Yates’ novels to be adapted for the big screen, “Revolutionary Road” is a powerful period piece. Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) and aspiring actress April (Kate Winslet) met... Full Story / Comment

DVDiva: Rocking in `09

“The Rocker” (20th Century Fox/Fox Atomic)—A weak and lazy retread of “School of Rock,” complete with Rainn Wilson channeling all of the unpleasant quirks of Jack Black, “The Rocker” sinks like a stone. Opening in 1986, when Fish a.k.a Robert Fishman (Wilson) is the drummer for hair/metal... Full Story / Comment

‘Future’ fun: an interview with Inara George and Greg Kurstin of The Bird and The Bee

It’s only January, but one of the most delightful albums of 2009 has already arrived. “Rayguns Are Not Just the Future” (Blue Note), the second full-length disc by The Bird and The Bee, picks up with the same vintage vibe that made the duo’s eponymous debut disc such a pleasure. Inara George and Greg Kurstin—The Bird and... Full Story / Comment

Another queer year

In interview after interview, animated and flaming Of Montreal front man Kevin Barnes, who is married to a woman, reinforces his heterosexuality. Yet, he’s freely mentioned that he’s had “experiences” with members of the same gender and even wishes that all... Full Story / Comment

Drop 10: Leaning into the new year

I remember the conversation distinctly— three women, all of them overweight, all of them frustrated with years of dieting, all of them walking out of a hotel conference room where they had pledged to drop 20 pounds in three months... Full Story / Comment

Live Performance

CFP's weekly Live Performance listing... Full Story / Comment

Theater

CFP reviews 'Don’t Dress for Dinner', 'Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?', 'The Maids'... Full Story / Comment

New Year, New Cocktails

I don’t know who came up with the concept of cocktails and I don’t care. I’m just grateful that they did. With dozens of different alcohol based beverages to serve as a base ingredient, and hundreds of mixers, the possibilities are endless. So why not kick off the new year with a new signature cocktail... Full Story / Comment

Buy on A Dime in 2009: What to Expect in Real Estate This Year

When the real estate market began its nosedive in 2006, a catchy phrase began to make the rounds among Chicago area developers: “build again in 2010.” Even in the worst of times, developers know that recovery—and demand—is right around the corner. Before that... Full Story / Comment

Opinion

Hopeful uncertainty

The thing I like best about the New Year is: you don’t know. You don’t know what is going to happen to you in the next year, what gifts the next 12 months will bring. You can’t predict whom you will meet, what you will learn, the new experiences that you will have... Full Story / Comment

Scene and Heard: Notes from My Neighborhood

Anyone who, as I do, walks around my gay neighborhood visiting local shops or spends time waiting at bus stops tends to overhear odd snatches of talk or ends up engaged in interesting conversations. Some examples... Full Story / Comment

News

Local Briefs

The Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted, recently announced the formation of a new group for the Trans SOFFA (Significant Others, Family, Friends and Allies) community called Joys and Challenges. Center on Halsted believes that the new group, which will be professionally led, is the first of its kind for Chicago... Full Story / Comment

U.S. Senate seat standoff

Roland Burris, the man appointed by scandal-ridden Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s shoes in the U.S. Senate, believes he has a legal stamp of approval, but leaders in Illinois and Washington have pulled out all the stops, blocking him from being sworn in on Tuesday... Full Story / Comment

Portland: Largest US city with openly gay mayor

PORTLAND, Oregon—Portland, Oregon became the largest city in the United States with an openly gay mayor Thursday as a longtime City Hall insider took the oath of office. Sam Adams, 45, was sworn into office at 12:01 a.m. New Year’s Day at City Hall during a ceremony attended by a crowd of about 40 that included his mother and his partner... Full Story / Comment

Local synagogue attacked

Police are looking into a recent attack of a Lakeview East synagogue. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at Temple Sholom Dec. 29, causing a small amount of damage to the side of the building. No one was injured. Police are investigating the arson as a possible hate crime. But Temple Sholom’s Senior Rabbi, Aaron M. Petuchowski, told the Sun-Times that there was no obvious evidence that the... Full Story / Comment

ACLU of Arkansas sues over adoption restrictions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—More than a dozen families filed a lawsuit Dec. 30 challenging a new Arkansas law banning unmarried couples living together from becoming foster or adoptive parents... Full Story / Comment

Analysis: Lawsuit best route for adoption-ban foes

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.— With a new lawsuit in state court, opponents of a law banning unmarried couples from fostering or adopting children hope to put a new face on a multi-round debate that shows little sign of ending soon... Full Story / Comment

NJ finds group discriminated by barring ceremony

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.—A lesbian couple that was barred from holding a civil union ceremony at a beachfront pavilion owned by a church group has won a legal victory... Full Story / Comment

Cell phone soap operas deliver safe-sex message

TRENTON, N.J.—“Hey baby, you OK?” Mike asks his girlfriend as she sits down next to him. “Yeah, I’m OK,” Toni says, and she puts her head on his shoulder. Mike thinks it’s safe to move in for a kiss... Full Story / Comment

Warren’s inauguration prayer could draw more ire

President-elect Barack Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation drew one kind of protest. Whether the evangelical pastor offers the prayer in the name of Jesus may draw another... Full Story / Comment

Study: Family behavior key to health of gay youth

SAN FRANCISCO—Social scientists have long known that gay adolescents were at greater risk for suicide, homelessness and drug use. What was less understood was the role families played in a gay or lesbian teenager’s susceptibility to such problems... Full Story / Comment

4 arrested in N. California gang rape of lesbian

RICHMOND, Calif. —Two men and two teens have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping a woman last month in the San Francisco Bay area while allegedly taunting her for being a lesbian, police said Jan. 1... Full Story / Comment

Police: Vegas teen kissed teacher after slaying

HENDERSON, Nev.—A 17-year-old who told police that he and his brother strangled a high school choir teacher said the teacher made him uncomfortable with sexual advances the night the teens killed him, according to an arrest report... Full Story / Comment

Barroom sex leads to Nev. license complaint

CARSON CITY, Nev.—Nevada gambling regulators have filed a complaint against a Las Vegas gay bar that holds a slot machine license, alleging that several patrons engaged in sex acts in public areas of the bar... Full Story / Comment

Looking back at the real Milk

For some gay rights activists, the recent passage of Proposition 8 sheds light on the importance of knowing GLBT history. Among that group is Chicagoan Jerry Pritikin, who as a photographer, spent years in San Francisco during... Full Story / Comment

Spain: big pro-family rally in Madried

MADRID, Spain—Hundreds of thousands of people attended a Mass in central Madrid Dec. 28 designed to promote traditional family values in a predominantly Roman Catholic country that has legalized gay marriage and made it easier for people to divorce... Full Story / Comment

Nation Report

OLYMPIA, Wash.—State Sen. Ed Murray of Seattle and five other gay members of the Legislature are working on a bill that would expand the rights approved in the 2007 domestic-partnership law. Nearly 5,000 couples have registered to claim rights such as hospital visits and... Full Story / Comment

HEADLINE

NEW YORK— Eartha Kitt, the self-proclaimed “sex kitten” whose sultry voice and catlike purr attracted fans even as she neared 80 died Dec. 25. The singer, dancer and actress was 81. Family spokesman Andrew Freedman said Kitt, who was recently treated at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, died Thursday in Connecticut of colon cancer... Full Story / Comment

Editorial

Is the Religious Right finally on its way out?

The late Rev. Jerry Falwell pretty much summed it all up. “If there were no homosexuals,” Falwell famously said, “we’d have to invent them.” Falwell’s reported remark to an associate encapsulates how much the Religious Right needs the GLBT community—without the anxiety and hysteria... Full Story / Comment

Letters to the editor

While GLAAD has been hard at work fighting defamation against our community in media this year, anti-gay activists continue to put time and money into targeting media that show our lives and community in a fair and accurate way. This month, the anti-gay... Full Story / Comment