Friday, February 10 2012
And the Academy Awards Nominees Are… Straight
Films about LGBT people that are aimed at mass audiences win awards; films about LGBT people that are aimed at LGBT audiences… not so much. So, here's the Queer, Isn't It? Best Pic nominees.
Wednesday, February 1 2012
The Gay Ole Countryside
As challenging as it can be to grow up gay or lesbian in an area where the next closest homosexual is 50 miles away, it's often not the sad existence that an urban dweller might assume it to be.
Thursday, December 15 2011
Sex Is Between the Legs, Gender Is Between the Ears
It's been over 70 years since Lili Elbe underwent the first gender reassignment surgery, so isn't it time that media in so-called 'advanced' cultures began to recognize the presence of trans persons in its midst?
Tuesday, November 15 2011
The ‘Down-Low’ Is Still Kept Down and Low in Black Communities
Despite gay rights progress on many fronts, the problems of black LGBT people are still largely invisible, as they are often shunned by the black communities from which they come.
Wednesday, October 5 2011
Beyond Jodie Dallas: TV’s 10 Most Important LGBT Characters
Several "best" or "favorite" LGBT TV character lists have popped up in recent years, but they don't always include the most important LGBT characters. So, we pay tribute to the ten(ish) most significant LGBT characters in US television history.
Wednesday, August 17 2011
Lesbian Musicians These Days: More than Just Women with Guitars
In its July issue, Curve features a list of "101 Essential Musicians", admitting that the list doesn't "do justice" to a majority of the lesbian artists working today. We'll help Curve fill out that list, here.
Friday, July 15 2011
All Hail the Queens
The flamboyant queen is the black sheep of the LGBT 'family'. Cross the line into full drag, and the family declares you to be fabulous; just be a bit swishy with a propensity to wear scarves and a touch of make-up, and you're open game for ridicule, ostracism, and violence.
Wednesday, June 15 2011
Did Tennessee Williams See Bugs Bunny Kiss Elmer Fudd?
It may seem a stretch to connect the work of Tennessee Williams with that of a slapstick cartoon character, but both pushed sexual boundaries and allowed viewers to consider sexuality outside of the conventional heteronormative values prevalent under the restrictive Hayes Code.
Tuesday, April 12 2011
Form and Function: Art from Another Point of View
It is the inexactitude in defining "art", let alone "good art", that leads to controversy, and no demographic group has elicited more protests and controversy than LGBT artists.
Thursday, March 17 2011
Buyer’s Remorse: Boycotting for Civil Rights
Eating chicken-fried steak can keep you from marrying your partner or gaining workplace equality. So can buying tennis shoes, shipping a package, and decorating your home.
Tuesday, February 8 2011
Don’t Ask, Because You Already Know
For those still apprehensive or down-right opposed to gay personnel serving openly, perhaps a little perspective will provide a better understanding of how allowing LGBT persons to serve will affect America's armed forces. Gay and lesbian soldiers are nothing new.
Wednesday, December 15 2010
Gays and Stages
LGBT characters and themes are more prevalent in theater than in film or TV, unless you're watching Bravo, which is a gay man's paradise, with more bitchy queens than a Miss Continental pageant.
Tuesday, November 23 2010
‘Till the Children Come Home
Just as they have done for decades, the aging soldiers of the LGBT community wait with open arms and hearts, ready to cradle and nurse those who are dying a slow death. However, the killer today is not AIDS -- well, not as much as it once was -- but the crushing weight of cruelty.
Tuesday, October 19 2010
Bad Queer! Bad! Bad!
Queer, Isnt It? columnist Michael Abernethy rolls up his sleeves for some serious smackdowns, starting with Perez Hilton, arguably among America's most badly behaved, embarrassing queens.
Thursday, September 2 2010
‘Word Is Out’‘s Historical Importance Cannot Be Underestimated
Tales of secrecy, discrimination, discovery, bonding, and isolation and loneliness are common, not surprising considering the social and political climate for the LGBT community in the '70s.
Monday, July 19 2010
Tammy Faye Never Understood What That Whole Gay Thing Was About
Whatever her motivation, there's no doubt that Tammy Faye liked us. Still, despite all of her proselytizing about the LGBT community, she seemed to have had little effect on the evangelical movement.
Tuesday, June 15 2010
‘Tis the Season To Be Jolly. And Gay.
Between the parades and parties and protests this month, make time to whip up a batch of Pink Ladies and raise your glasses to the countless unsung LGBT individuals who are blazing…no, flaming a path for us all.
Thursday, May 27 2010
Change Is Coming, Ain’t No Stopping It, Now
The hope for civil rights for LGBT people lies in the hands of today's teens and young adults. This generation has grown up with gay and lesbian family, friends and classmates.
Thursday, April 8 2010
Butch Dyke or Earth Mother or Something Else Entirely?
For years, society had two perceptions of what lesbians look like. Today, high fashion and lesbians aren't such strangers -- and it's getting harder to tell, Is She or Isn't She?
Thursday, March 18 2010
Born This Way
Imagine inhabiting a body that was completely contradictory to what your mind said was right for you. How far would you go to make your body reflect who you really are?
Wednesday, February 10 2010
For Your Consideration: Trophies for Queers
Latins have the ALMAs, African-Americans the NAACP Image Awards, Christians the Dove Awards, so why isn't there a serious awards show given by the LGBT community for LGBT artists?
Wednesday, January 27 2010
Just Drawn that Way
Like their straight counterparts, LGBT comics offer a wide range of world-views. Were they to gain more attention in traditional media, they could help convince that there is no such thing as a "typical" gay or lesbian.
Monday, December 14 2009
Troublemakers: Adam Lambert and Will Phillips
Adam Lambert and Will Phillips have a lot in common. Both have publically pushed boundaries of what is deemed socially allowable.
Thursday, November 5 2009
Neil Patrick Harris: The Other Sort
Neil Patrick Harris is riding high these days. But in years past, if the average person sitting in his or her Barcalounger knew a TV star was gay, it would have been disastrous for both series and star.
Thursday, October 15 2009
Sitting on the Mountaintop
Did Obama calm the rash of criticism regarding his inaction on gay rights with his recent speech to the Human Rights Campaign?
Tuesday, August 18 2009
Like ‘The New York Times’—with a Pink Boa and a Tiara
Local LGBT papers are a vital part of our community. They bind us together, and they have played a major role in the development of that community. If only they were more inclusive.
Tuesday, July 28 2009
You Can Be Queen for a Day
What are all of us honest-to-goodness, queer-to-the-core homosexuals to make of these wannabes?
Friday, June 5 2009
Stonewall: 40 Years Hence
America's first gay Vice-President lived for 15 years with America's first gay President – and more from this Gay Pride Month's Public Service Announcement.
Tuesday, May 12 2009
“I Thee Wed”
Weddings performed by a justice of the peace, a ship's captain, or an Elvis impersonator don't fit into the historical, traditional view of marriage, performed in and sanctioned by the church – but they’re legal.
Thursday, April 16 2009
Is Your Child Safe?
If opponents of gay rights are serious about stopping child molestation, they shouldn't look inside the gay community. They should look inside the house next door.
Monday, March 23 2009
Oxymorons: Gay Nazi, Gay Aryan, Gay Supremacist
History reveals that homosexuals have long been a part of the Nazi party and were major players in its formation. Hitler's relationships with gay men offer profound lessons for today's gay community.
Tuesday, February 24 2009
I’ve Got the Music in Me
Today, LGBT musicians can flourish as themselves, not hiding behind euphemisms and fictional record label biographies.
Wednesday, January 21 2009
Welcome, Miss Addams, to Your History
The personal life of 20th century America's Mother of Modern Social Work provides us with lessons during our 21st century debate on GLBT rights.
Monday, December 15 2008
The California Smack-down
The victory of Proposition 8 could be the best thing to happen to the LGBT community in a long time, but only if we pay attention to its lessons.
Monday, November 24 2008
Fresh Squeeze with Pulp
The dimestore novels of the '50s and '60s helped foster the gay rights movement. And many of them aroused their readers while inspiring them.
Thursday, November 13 2008
A Cure for What Ails You
Thanks to modern psychology, you can now be trained to accept or reject homosexuality – yours or others -- depending on your interpretation of what's needed.
Monday, September 15 2008
The Changing Face of Drag
In large part, the social acceptance of drag has turned female impersonation into a corporate commodity.
Tuesday, August 12 2008
Dragging the Old Nag to the Racetrack, Again
Once again, gay rights have been thrust into the center of a political campaign. Will it be a winning strategy again?
Wednesday, July 23 2008
A Clan, a Network, a Tribe, a Family
Not only does the GLBT community view itself as one movement, society has mandated that the groups are linked -- if not intentionally, then through selective exclusion.
Friday, June 20 2008
Saying It With Pride
From Tammy Faye to Rick Santorum, hoodia to herpes treatments, this is a hodge-podge of Pride Month-induced thoughts.
Thursday, May 15 2008
The People at the Airport Took it Well
Gay visibility on TV may have increased significantly in the last three decades, but consigned to secondary roles on network shows, the impact of that visibility is weakened.
Monday, April 7 2008
Nuke the Kiss
For some TV viewers, storylines of adultery, murder, war, rape, etc. are not reprehensible enough to prompt a channel change; two men kissing, however, is another matter.
Thursday, March 13 2008
If It’s Gay, It’s Gotta Be Good, Right?
Dante's Cove isn't the only piece of gay schlock to be embraced by the gay and lesbian community – we're quick to latch on to almost anything gay-related and rally around it, no matter how bad it may be.
Friday, February 8 2008
Jesus Loves Me, This I Know
A Christian nation wouldn't accept homosexuality. The big question, then, is whether America is a Christian nation.
Monday, January 14 2008
Getting to Know You
In the blogging stage of the information age, there's no reason to not know what the GLBT community is all about.
Thursday, December 13 2007
Gay Men Have Large Big Toes
Is there any definite way to tell if a person is gay? Conventional wisdom would lead you to believe there is.
Friday, November 16 2007
It’s a World of Hope, It’s a World of Fear
GLBT persons in the West face various acts of discrimination. At least state-sanctioned murder isn't among them.
Tuesday, October 16 2007
PFLAG: A Piece of Our Hearts
For 35 years, long before "traditional family values" became a buzz-phrase, PFLAG has been preaching inclusion, love, acceptance, and understanding.
Thursday, September 13 2007
Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are - Whether You Want to or Not
The decision to come out is a personal one, except when your words and actions forfeit your right to a closeted life.
Thursday, August 23 2007
Ready for Their Close-up
If not for the work of director James Broughton, gay cinema may not have progressed as quickly as it has.
Thursday, July 19 2007
Consent of the Governed
The election of gay officials isn't about promoting agenda; it's about electing the most qualified individuals.
Thursday, June 28 2007
I’m Comin’ with the U-Haul, Baby
This One's for the Girls... I mean Women, or Rather Wymen... uh, Wimin... This One's for the Lesbians! Abernethy learns that society as a whole is relatively indifferent to the lesbian community, whether through acceptance, titillation, or oblivion.
Tuesday, May 29 2007
Tonight’s Episode: Psycho Cross-Dressing Killers
The history of TV is lacking GLBT characters. But on which shows should they have appeared? If ever someone needed a friend that was a tool-toting lesbian, for example, it was Lucy Ricardo.
Thursday, May 17 2007
The Scorecard
There isn't a scorecard of social injustice that makes one group more worthy of equality than others.
Thursday, April 19 2007
“Faggot! Sissy! Queer!”
Increasingly, the sound echoing from our school playgrounds is the sound of hatred and bigotry.
Friday, March 23 2007
‘That Ain’t Right!’
The news, television, and films all reinforce the idea that there is something wrong with even the hint of homosexuality.
Friday, February 16 2007
“You Know, They’re All Alike”
Even the most die-hard homosexual would probably be a little disconcerted should his or her doctor flit into the room exclaiming, "Girlfriend! Your X-rays look faaabulous!"
Monday, January 8 2007
The Ugly Duckling has Two Daddies
We are surrounded by a large population that simply flaunts its homosexualness at us -- flagrantly, shamelessly, and completely uncontrollably.
Thursday, November 16 2006
Gay Icons: Judy Who?
Our choice for icons is about more than just high camp and melodrama; it's about who we are in a fundamental way.
Friday, October 27 2006
Gay and Gray
Due to AIDS and homophobic violence, many LGBT souls who fought so hard for the things we take for granted today never expected to reach old age... but they have.
Tuesday, September 19 2006
Do You Wanna Funk with Me?: A Beginner’s Guide to Gay Nightclubs
Going to a gay nightclub shouldn't be an intimidating experience, and could prove to be the most fun straight people have had out in a long time.
Thursday, August 24 2006
Bi the Way…
Bisexuals are the oft-overlooked segment of the GLBT and straight communities.
Monday, July 24 2006
Out Business / Our Business
Tom Cruise is NOT Gay... but Anderson Cooper Might Be.
Thursday, June 22 2006
And I’m Proud to be an American, Where at Least I Know… I’m a Second Class Citizen
A hard lesson in resolve: gay-basher Fred Phelps may have one 'quality', if you will, worth considering.
