How is Lee Carson healthy?

This is actually a fascinating question and one that I don’t have a really deep or profound answer to. I know that I sometimes struggle with staying emotionally balanced. I think being healthy is having a harmonious balance between both physical and emotional health, as they are often so interdependent on one another. So for me, it’s important to take care of both of these if I am going be healthy.

Some of what keeps me balanced is doing things that I enjoy such as working out, spending time with friends, reading a good book, teaching college students, contributing to the local and national LGBT community and going to the park or being by a body of water where I like to people watch or read and enjoy the surroundings.

I am really working to learn how to be more mindful of my surroundings and the relationships and interactions I have with others in my life. I find that sometimes I get so bogged down in work and the day to day hustle of all I’m involved in that I forget to be mindful of the small things in my life. I am learning to increase the qualitative nature of my friendships versus quantifying how many I have. I am learning to decrease my expectations of meeting Mr. Right when I’m in an environment where there are lots of men around (whether virtually or physically).

I am also learning to just sit with Lee on a Friday or Saturday night and enjoy the solitude and allow my batteries to be re-charged from a long week by watching a movie or doing something I enjoy.

In the realm of physical health, I am learning how to take care of myself better by getting annual physicals, staying on top of my HIV and STI testing and tracking the progress of a genetic eye disease that I have (this one I have not been so good with). Working out on a regular basis has also been good for me, especially as I see the changes in my body and it has also served as a way to help me get in a better state of mind when I’m not in the best space emotionally.

For me staying healthy is an ever evolving process, but I think I am at a point where I’m doing pretty good and only expect things to get better!

-- Lee Carson
Philadelphia


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Mmmmmm.... Hunky Tuesdays on R.O.C.K. on the CTA

A must-click for pics like this...

Let's all start sucking around

via Fridae, by Jan Wijngaarden

Fridae’s Men’s Sexual Health columnist Jan Wijngaarden wonders why oral sex has not been as widely recommended as a 'safer option' given that it has been found to be of much lower risk compared to anal sex.

A while ago, a friend of mine, who is around 55 years old and from Europe, sadly looked back on his life during a birthday dinner. He said that none of his (gay) friends from when he was in his twenties and thirties was alive to celebrate his birthday with him. They had all died - most of them, by far, died of AIDS.

I was intrigued. Why did he survive? Was he immune, or what? Or was he the only one who used condoms? When we were alone, after the dinner was finished, I decided to ask him.

He said: "Condoms? Nobody used them at that time. It was true; I had syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia several times, but those could be treated easily. That was not it, for sure."

So, what then? He answered: "It is the fact that I HATE anal sex which must have saved my life!"

It is an interesting conclusion, with a lot of truth in it. Anal intercourse is the sexual behaviour which is - by far - most likely to transmit HIV among gay men (and - much less well known - maybe among some heterosexuals, too).

Read the rest.

Obama's White House LGBT Stonewall Event: Transcript, Guest List

[note - AIDS Foundation of Chicago's David Munar (right) - representing the National Association of People with AIDS - was among the guests at this event.]


via Towleroad

President Obama hosted 250-300 LGBT leaders in the East Room of the White House today, billed as a celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion and Pride month. Obama acknowledged gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, to whom the government recently apologized for firing in 1957, because he was gay.

Read the rest.

For guys who have used drugs and love sex...

CHICAGO

Come to a ten-week group focused on healthy sexuality for men who have used cocaine and crystal meth.

This is a research study conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Howard Brown Health Center to see if groups like this one can help men develop a healthier sense of sexuality that doesn't always depend on using drugs.

For more info, please contact
nicolep@howardbrown.org or call 773-388-8872

A condom specifically for anal intercourse?

via International Rectal Microbicide Advocates

IRMA chats up Dan Resnic of Strata Various Product Design about the ORIGAMI Condom - a new product in development designed specifically for anal intercourse.


IRMA - Tell us about this ORIGAMI condom you are working on. What is it? How is it different from other condoms?

DAN RESNIC - This is a radical new design concept, made of non-latex material and the first AI (anal intercourse) condom data ever presented to the FDA for review. The data will be used to help establish the first safety standards for a condom used exclusively for AI. ORIGAMI Condoms are designed foremost for the pleasure of both partners and simultaneously to improve safety. Its improved capacity for better sensation during AI is intended to increase consumer acceptability and to promote its consistent use among men and women currently at risk.

The non-latex material we developed is unique. It's been lab tested as a male condom against a leading brand of a male latex condoms. The ORIGAMI material had zero viral permability compared with the latex condom, which had 5% viral permeability. Viral permeability is tested by introducing virus smaller than HIV into sterile water inside the condom, suspended in sterile water for 72 hrs. The water outside the condom is then tested to detect virus that may permeate through the condom. The test is repeated in reverse, starting with virus outside the condom then testing for viral premeability in the opposite direction. The tests are repeated again with pinholes punctured into the condoms. Again, the ORIGAMI tested at zero viral permeability even with puncture holes while the latex condom failed. In addition, the new material will not degrade in sunlight as does a latex condom and, after accelerated aging tests, it is expected to offer an extended shelf life of 10-12 yrs.

Future condom studies currently under funding review include a new, reusable ORIGAMI elastomer material we developed that can be washed and dried in a washer/dryer at high temperatures and can even be sterilized in a microwave or boiling in water and air dried in sunlight without compromising its structural integrity. The latter could be especially significant in regions like Africa and India where cost and distribution can be issues that prevent consistent condom use.

Photos and further details will be made available following FDA pre-market approval.

Read the rest of the interview.

I Love You, Man (as a friend)

via New York Times, by Douglas Quenqua

WELCOME to the flip side of homophobia.

“I’m flattered, and I think it’s hilarious,” Kris Allen told People.com recently, responding to the news that his former roommate and runner-up on “American Idol,” Adam Lambert, had a crush on him.

Mr. Lambert, who favors black eyeliner and leather pants, had told Rolling Stone that Mr. Allen, an aw-shucks Christian from Arkansas, was “the one guy that I found attractive in the whole group on the show — nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type — except that he has a wife.”

This all went down in the same interview in which Mr. Lambert finally confirmed the long-simmering rumor that, yep, he’s gay.

Mr. Allen’s cool, self-assured response to being the object of his gay roommate’s affection doesn’t exactly qualify him as a civil rights hero, not at a time when straight men march against Proposition 8 in California and the most anticipated gay-themed film of the year, “Brüno,” is coming from a straight (if highly waxed) comedian.

But do give him credit for overcoming one of the most common deal-killers in friendships between straight and gay men: the awkward crush.

The kinship between gay men and straight women is familiar to the point of cliché (see: “Sex and the City,” “Will and Grace,” Kathy Griffin’s audience, etc.), but friendships between gay and straight men have barely registered on the pop culture radar, perhaps because they resist easy classification. For every sweeping statement one can make about such friendships, there is a real-life counter example to undermine the stereotypes. And as with all friendships, no two are exactly alike.

But as America’s openly gay minority becomes more visibly interwoven into society — a 2007 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 4 out of 10 respondents had a close friend or family member who was a gay man or a lesbian — the straight world becomes more aware of the gay world. Although male friends of opposite orientations can face formidable obstacles — sexuality, language, peer pressure, inequality — there seems to be more mutual appreciation and common ground.

“The younger generation understands the spectrum and fluidity of sexuality much more than generations of the past,” said Tom Bourdon, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center at Tufts University. “Most liberal-minded straight guys today could say they have gay friends, and people wouldn’t bat an eye.”

Read the rest.

Monday Morning Perk-Up: Bruno

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Bruno Conan O'Brien Interview
Uploaded by yardie4lifever2. - More video blogs and vloggers.

Caught on Film - A Gay "Exorcism"

The video shows the 16-year-old boy lying on the floor, his body convulsing, as elders of a small Connecticut church cast a "homosexual demon" from his body.

"Rip it from his throat!" a woman yells. "Come on, you homosexual demon! You homosexual spirit, we call you out right now! Loose your grip, Lucifer!"

Read the rest of this scary article on MyOutSpirit

Have you registered for the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit?

August 14 - 18, 2009
Chicago Hilton and Towers
Kicks off with the Bisexual Health Summit
Visit the Summit website

Register

Hotel info

Alternate housing info

Farrah's gift - outing the tumor that dare not speak its name

via San Francisco Chronicle, by Doc Gurley

Even now, most of Farrah Fawcett's obits genteelly - and obtusely - refer to her terminal illness as merely "cancer." Three years ago, when she was diagnosed, Farrah Fawcett's illness was marked with secrecy because of her tumor's location and type. Rectal/anal* cancer is one of the few remaining malignancies whose victims still continue to suffer twice - both from the disease, and the stigma.

Not so long ago, women similarly got tumors in their "female organs" - at least they did where I grew up in the South. That kind of secrecy left listeners not knowing even if people were talking about an above-the-waist disease, or a below-the-waist disease. We can all agree that voyeurism is an ugly human trait, and valid points could be made about whether anyone has a right to know that much detail about anyone's illness. But we have since discovered, thanks to Magic Johnson, Katie Couric, and others, that de-stigmazing body parts and illnesses can, literally, save lives.

The same is true for rectal/anal cancer. And Farrah Fawcett suffered in front of the camera, playing out her battle with disease, and even her decline - and, by doing so, outing her serious illness.

Read the rest.

HIV travel ban to be lifted?

via Advocate.com, by Kerry Eleveld

The first step to ending the HIV travel ban in the United States has been taken by the Obama administration. The Office of Management and Budget posted a notice on its site Friday afternoon indicating that the department of Health and Human Services could move forward with steps to change a regulation that has restricted HIV-positive people from gaining entrance into the United States.

Read the rest.

Testing, Testing How 'Bout You? June 27 is National HIV Testing Day Kids!

MANHUNT PARTNERS WITH GETSTDTESTED.COM TO PROMOTE NATIONAL HIV TESTING DAY

David S. Novak, Senior Public Health Strategist, atOnline Buddies, Inc., the parent company of MANHUNT, has announced that MANHUNT will promote an innovative HIV testing campaign during this year’s National HIV Testing Day. On June 27, nearly 1.5 million MANHUNT members will be educated about five easy ways to get tested for HIV.

“It’s estimated that at least 25% of persons in the U.S. who are living with HIV don’t know their status. Recentresearch* suggests that 85% of men who have never tested for HIV report they are HIV-negative online,” said Novak. Novak said this campaign, which highlights AIDS.gov National HIV Testing Day activities and new corporate partner GetSTDtested.com, follows the success of February’s National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and 2008 World AIDS Day promotions.

“We need to think differently about how we encourage men to test for HIV and other STDs. In the old days HIV testing was about fear, stigma and death. Today, HIV testing should be natural, normal and about life. MANHUNT has made huge strides in HIV/STD education and prevention and now provides access to low-cost confidential testing online. Our company is proud to participate in their innovative work and to offer private online testing for HIV and seven common STDs to MANHUNT members at a discount,” said Tracey Powell, CEO of GetSTDtested.com.

MANHUNT is the first website to allow health outreach organizations to interact with members and offer a series of online HIV prevention videos aimed at encouraging members to verbally disclose and/or test for HIV. Through a partnership with Dr. Mary Ann Chiasson, Vice President at Public Health Solutions, MANHUNT approved a study allowing members to validate an online video intervention entitled “HIV Big Deal.” Dr. Chiasson supports broad-based targeted messages to members reminding them to get tested. “MANHUNT's promotion of HIV/STD prevention strategies demonstrates its continued industry leadership. This campaign again places this company ahead of all others,” said Dr. Chiasson. On World AIDS Day 2008, MANHUNT teamed up with Public Health Solutions, New York University and In the Life Media to promote the “HIV Big Deal” video series through a multi-media campaign on MANHUNT. Mr. Novak will present results of this campaign later this month at the International Society of STD Research Conference in London, England and at the National HIV Prevention Conference and the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media in Atlanta, GA in August.

“In the past five years, MANHUNT has worked closely with public health departments to facilitate sexually transmitted infection prevention,” said Adam Segel, MANHUNT’s CEO. “Creating new partnerships to inform our members about new ways to access testing, specifically, at-home, in-lab and online-based testing - along with traditional testing strategies, helps our members learn more about available options,” said Segel. Dr. Keith Horvath, from the University of Minnesota agrees. “The first step to diminish the impact of HIV in our communities is for men and women to be tested for HIV and, for those who test positive, to get into appropriate care so they can live long and healthy lives. Studies consistently show that the vast majority of persons who test HIV-positive take active measures to reduce sexual risk for themselves and their partners.”

To learn more visit www.MANHUNTCARES.com/gettested or www.getSTDtested.com/MANHUNTCARES.

*Horvath, Oakes, & Rosser, July 2008 Journal of Urban Health



Many U.S. Residents Test Positive For HIV Late In Illness, Few High School Students Being Tested, CDC Reports Find

Many people who test positive for HIV are diagnosed late in the course of their infection when treatment might be less effective, according to a report published Thursday in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Reuters Health reports. The report looked at data on people who were diagnosed with HIV from 1996 to 2005 and found that 45 percent had developed AIDS within three years of their initial HIV diagnosis, 38.3 percent within one year and an additional 6.7 percent within the next two years (Reuters Health 6/25). R. Luke Shouse of CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said, "This means that they may have unknowingly transmitted HIV. It also means that there is a time when they had HIV when they were not under appropriate medical care, so there are missed opportunities for prevention and care." A separate CDC report also published yesterday found that 22.3 percent of high school students who are sexually active and 12.9 percent of all students have been tested for HIV


New Resources On HIV Testing In The U.S. Available, Nationwide HIV Campaign Announced

The Kaiser Family Foundation, ahead of National HIV Testing Day on Saturday, has released new and updated informational resources on HIV testing in the U.S., including a fact sheet that provides HIV testing statistics, policies and CDC recommendations. In addition, the Foundation released two survey briefs, which examine the public's attitudes, experiences and knowledge related to HIV testing, one of which focuses on black residents. The briefs are based on the 2009 Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS released this spring. Information regarding HIV testing by state also is available through statehealthfacts.org.

Separately, the Kaiser Family Foundation in conjunction with the Black AIDS Media Partnership (BAMP) yesterday announced "Greater Than AIDS," a nationwide campaign that seeks to address HIV/AIDS in the black community. The Greater Than AIDS campaign -- which is being developed and distributed by BAMP, a coalition of leading media companies -- will reach the black community through public service announcements, integrated media content and community outreach. A number of media organizations are supporting the initiative. The campaign is being produced in collaboration with "Act Against AIDS," a communications effort by the CDC .

The Gay Pride Charade

by Pistol Pete

I regret the fact that I am young enough that I only know the bastardized version of Gay Pride.

The golden age of the real pride of the 70’s and 80’s seems a lifetime away from the shallow, commercialized sex fest we have today. I mean, getting drunk and rowdy can be fun and all, but should this event stand as the crux of the LGBT movement? I mean really guys, haven’t we strayed just a bit far from the political roots of our forbearers?

I want to be clear that I believe this is a generational problem, not so much a gay problem; and that it’s not everyone in my age group, but simply a careening trend of apathy and self-absorption. I’ll be the first to admit that I loathe my Paris Hilton-loving, money-obsessed, politically-indifferent, self-entitled peers whose deal-breakers are related to body fat percentage, waist and dick size, but curiously not IQ or personality. Call me old fashioned, but I long for the time when people actually gave a shit about each other: when drag queens and trannies led the Stonewall Riots and beat the snot out of an abusive New York City police force, or when angry gay men and women took to the streets to protest an apathetic government response to the AIDS crisis. There was a real sense of community and support amongst LGBT’s, something that is rather absent today.

The gay prides of today feature naked dancing men, corporate floats, political candidates, and the remnants of the gay prides of yester year – HIV/AIDS and LGBT organizations. It’s a cesspool of lascivious activity and highlights all the worst of American society. I know I sound like a crotchety old man, and I wouldn’t particularly care about all that if the 500,000 people that congregate in Boystown would actually do something useful first and then get on to the debauchery, but I know that’s asking too much. Tell them many of the corporations that support the Pride Parade also donate to anti-gay causes, remind them that all those politicians passed a state budget that cut funding to HIV/AIDS services by 50% or more (we still don’t know the final damage, but it is bad), and all you’ll get is a shoulder shrug and a flippant response that Gay Pride is about fun, not politics. God, GET A FUCKING CLUE!

I don’t know what it will take to get my generation to wake up. Perhaps they think that homophobia is dead, or that constantly getting laid will really bring them happiness, or maybe they don’t believe they have any power to change things. But the facts remain: in 2009 we do not have domestic partnerships, civil unions or gay marriage at a federal level; in fact, more than 35 states have gay marriage bans. We do not have an Employee Non-Discrimination Act that includes sexual orientation or gender identity, and we’re still seeing alarming rates of HIV infections among gay men. Indifference I can comprehend, but this generation has a death wish.

I fear what the future of the LGBT movement will look like if the young folks won’t lift a finger except to down their Cosmo. The occasional bout with helplessness, hopelessness, or carelessness is understandable – we are, after all, human beings who are discriminated against every day of our lives. But if we don’t stand up and take ownership of our lives, if we don’t fight for equality and respect, nothing will change – either inside our community or in society at large.

Stonewall at 40: The Voice Articles That Sparked a Final Night of Rioting

via The Village Voice

Earlier this month, the New York Times published for the first time several photographs that were taken on July 2, 1969, the final night of the Stonewall uprising. The Times noted that few photographs exist of the six-day disturbance, so it was significant to find images all these years later that captured some of the action on the uprising's final night. The initial police raid on the Stonewall that started the riots happened five days earlier, on June 28. But on Wednesday, July 2, there was a new wave of anger and rioting. The cause: the Village Voice. That day, two articles appeared on the Voice's front page describing the struggle happening both inside and outside the Stonewall Inn. Voice reporter Howard Smith's piece described how he found himself trapped inside the Stonewall with police officers as they came under violent attack by the crowd -- at one point, Smith wishes he had a gun to defend himself, just like the cops. Writer Lucian Truscott IV reported on the agitated street scene outside the building. "Limp wrists were forgotten," Truscott writes, but his use of words like "faggot" and "faggotry" enraged gay activists. Anger at the pieces ran so high, rioters marched on the Voice office itself. Four decades on, here's another opportunity to see what caused all the fuss.

Read the rest.

Some gay seniors embrace a newfound openness, others face isolation

'Mr. Straight" out at 61 with no regrets
via Chicago Tribune, by Rex W. Huppke

Marvin Levin was speaking to his psychiatrist in November 2003. The conversation halted briefly as Levin looked away, collecting a thought that had waited decades to surface.

"You know what?" he said, looking up at his doctor. "I'm gay."

At age 61, married more than 30 years, this was an unlikely admission.

"It was the first time I'd ever put words to that," Levin said. "It was like an epiphany. And then I looked back on my life and said, 'You dummy, of course you are.' "

Read the rest.




Gay senior lives less openly in care facility
via Chicago Tribune, by Rex W. Huppke

The love of Victor Engandela's life was a Czech immigrant, an older, square-jawed man, olive-skinned and Hollywood handsome with a shock of white hair and an unfailingly gentlemanly manner.

Joseph was his name. There are pictures of him pressed in a yellowed photo album buried on a shelf in Engandela's room at an Evanston home for seniors.

"I was with him," Engandela said, "until he took his final breath."

He shares these photos, and stories of a rich life, with no one but the occasional visitor, spending most of his days isolated from his past, surrounded by contemporaries born in an age when homosexuality was taboo.

Read the rest.

"At this point in my life, I can't believe I have to feel this way," Engandela said. "I have a lot of memories I'd like to share, a lot I'd like to talk about. But I feel like I can't, and I shudder when I think I have to spend the remaining years of my life in this place."

Feel the Love... with Sister Glo

Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sister Glo shares her glittery gems of love with LifeLube each Friday.

Friday is for Faeries

Feast of Fun cats it up on the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit

via our friends, the Feast of Fun

President Obama has declared- “look unless, we fix what is broken in our current health care system, everybody’s health care will be in jeopardy. Reform is not a luxury, its a necessity.”

Today we’re talking to Cat Jefcoat, director of the Lesbian Community Care Project, a program at Howard Brown. She’s knee deep in the health care issues for all the gays.

Cat is working with Feast of Fun’s Jim Pickett to help make sure Obama’s reform includes gay folks by co-chairing the National LGBTI Health Summit, a four day conference to build community networks and share ideas.

The summit will cover an array of topics including the aging of the Stonewall generation, new HIV prevention technologies, intimate partner violence, transgender health care, biphobia, body image, club drugs, anti-smoking initiatives, “what vaginas want,” sexual racism, bareback sex, Qigong, yoga and meditation.

Listen as we talk about the hot news and trends that shape your world.

Americans Demand a Public Option in Health Care -- When Will Politicians Listen?

Despite the nation’s cascading crises – which can be traced to too little government, excessive tax cuts and a lack of sound regulation – the chattering class has not been shaken from its biases. So, the minority Republicans are given far more time and space than they reasonably deserve (and much more than minority Democrats got during George W. Bush’s presidency).

via AlterNet, by Robert Parry, Consortium News

The usual knock on government programs is that they’re not as efficient as the private sector, which we’re told can provide the same product for less money and with higher quality. Thus, it should be no big deal when the public and private collide because the private sector should prevail.

However, in providing health insurance, those rules clearly don’t apply, which is why congressional Republicans and so-called “centrist” Democrats are going to such lengths to deny the American people access to a public option on health insurance.

Indeed, if a public option were to be piggybacked onto the existing Medicare bureaucracy, the chances for savings could be impressive for average Americans and the overall American economy.

Insurance middlemen could be eliminated; investigators who ferret out “preexisting conditions” wouldn’t be needed; doctors could save on administrative costs; the burden on U.S. industry providing health benefits could be reduced; and more money could be freed to cover the nearly 50 million uninsured or for actual doctoring.

For a nation facing multiple fiscal crises – all complicated by the costs of health care – one might think that the most sure thing in the health care debate would be to allow a cost-saving public option, which as President Barack Obama says would help keep private health insurers “honest” regarding their promises to trim waste and control premiums.

According to a New York Times/CBS poll, that point is obvious to 72 percent of the American people who favor “offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan like Medicare that would compete with private health insurance plans.”

It’s also reflected in a study cited by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and other insurance industry defenders saying that 119 million Americans would bolt from their private insurers to the public option if they were given the chance.

To put that figure in perspective, it is about two-thirds of Americans who have private insurance through their employers or as individuals. In other words, the industry's defenders say two of every three customers want out.

Though some analysts doubt the defection rate would reach 119 million, Grassley’s argument is that Americans would so prefer a government-run plan that it would destroy the private insurance industry – and that therefore the public option simply can’t be permitted.

Grassley’s fear of 119 million Americans voting with their pocketbooks against private health insurance represents a remarkable admission of failure by the industry and its backers. It says, in effect, that the industry’s treatment of its customers has been so highhanded over the decades that the industry can only survive if Americans are left with the unappetizing choice of private coverage or no coverage.

Read the rest.

On the rocks, with a twist

Every Pride Sunday, techno music blasts out of loudspeakers, drag performers strut their stuff, politicians beam their megawatt smiles, volunteers pass out safer-sex info, and thousands celebrate. Yet these festivities take place not just in Boystown but at the decades-old—yet largely off-the-radar—Rocks Party, which annually attracts around 15,000 mostly black LGBT Chicagoans to Montrose Harbor in Uptown.

Read the rest on TimeOut Chicago.

Charles King - "It's really about human dignity"

viaThe Villager (NY), by John Bayles

AIDS activist says fight’s ‘bigger than marriage’

It’s impossible to pigeonhole Charles King, executive director of Housing Works. He’s a pioneer, a radical, a respected voice in the L.G.B.T. community and a veteran of both the local and national effort to provide housing and resources for people living with H.I.V. and AIDS.

He’s one of the only openly gay men living with H.I.V. who is in charge of an AIDS service organization. He’s also the son of a Southern Baptist preacher from Texas and is a Yale graduate. And when he begins speaking about the gay community and AIDS, you feel as if you’re being preached to, perhaps because King is an ordained minister himself who still teaches a Sunday Bible-study class to his clients and speaks with a slow, committed, thoughtful cadence.

“What I find very frustrating about the organized gay community,” said King, “is all too often it’s about what ‘I’m not getting.’ ”

Read the rest.

Who's that Queer?

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Alexandra Billings, actor, teacher and activist is the Grand Marshal for this year's Chicago 40th Annual Pride Parade. Alexandra has dozens of stage, television and film roles to her credit. In the last few years she has had guest-starring roles on hit television shows including and in 2007 she completed her first film, "Socket" directed by Sean Abley.

Alexandra has starred in numerous plays at the Torso Theatre, Bailiwick Theatre, Healthworks Theatre, Light Opera Works and also the Steppenwolf Theater. She also appeared in plays in New York City and Los Angeles, including Larry Kramer's pivotal AIDS piece, "Just Say No" playing Nancy Regan to Gregg Louganis' "Jr." That year (1999) she shared a cover of the Advocate with Gregg Louganis, she had a feature in POZ magazine, and she was chosen as one of the Chicago Tribune's Top 10 People of the Year.

Alexandra, who along with her wife Chrisanne, moved to California in 2004, returns to Chicago frequently where she is a (summer) teacher at Steppenwolf Theater. She is also an Artistic Associate at the Bailiwick Theatre and About Face company member.

Alexandra will be riding in a classic car near the front of the Pride Parade on Sunday June 28.

Sources: Chicago Pride Calendar; Wikipedia

Drama Dupree - Stop Making Everyone Gay!

Why is Gay Pride so GAY

via National Sexuality Resource Center, by Eric Anthony Grollman
Blogs & Talk › black queer thoughts › why is gay pride so gay?

Excerpt:

In order to gain full sexual liberation, LGBT and queer people must challenge the repressive heteronormative standards of sexuality. What good does acceptance do us if we still have to play by the heterosexual majorities’ rules? Is that true equality?

Read the whole thing.

Woof Wednesday