Bay Windows
A dirty frame :: Albert Merola Gallery opens "Eliminate"
Just in time for the Provincetown film festival, the Albert Merola Gallery opens "Eliminate," an exhibit of contemporary art curated by legendary director John Waters. Nineteen artists are represented in a variety of mediums. As befits a show overseen by The Pope of Trash, much of the show is provocative, including bodily fluids used as paint and a photo of a man waving a flag that reminded us of a famous scene from Pink Flamingos.
VICTORY! Anti-gay marriage amendment defeated in MA
In the June 14 constitutional convention, state lawmakers defeated the proposed amendment to the constitution that would have taken away the civil right to marry from same-sex couples. The final tally on the measure was 45 in favor and 151 against. The amendment needed just 50 votes to pass. The June 14 vote came just five months after the first vote by lawmakers on the amendment in which 62 lawmakers backed it.
Documenting the Provincetown Art Community
A deep love of Provincetown can be felt in ArtSpirit, the new documentary that chronicles the history of the town’s art community. No puff piece, the film serves as much as a warning as a tribute, showing how the changing real estate market makes it increasingly difficult for artists to live in the seaside town. It’s a far cry from the halcyon days of the first half of the 20th century, when the fishing industry outstripped the tourist trade and the artists who flocked to Provincetown for its unique light and vistas could find affordable housing.
Through the years with Kiki and Herb
A look back at the recording career of the twosome, who are appearing at the Calderwood Pavilion through June 30.
100 turn out for Lowell vigil against hate crimes
More than 100 people turned out for a vigil June 7 at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Lowell to show unity in response to a violent attack on a transwoman June 1 that left the victim, Janine Nickola, with cuts on her arms and legs and part of her lip hanging from her face.
Get to the ConCon June 14!
If you need a reason to come out June 14 and rally at the State House for the constitutional convention, MassEquality campaign director Marc Solomon has your rallying cry.
Family Pride to open Boston office
The Family Pride Coalition will move much of its operations up from Washington, D.C. to the Bay State next month, opening a new office in Boston July 2.
Gay vets recall wartime experiences
When Carol Riso joined the Air Force Nurse Corps back in 1962, she didn’t think much about checking off the box on her enlistment form declaring that she did not have homosexual tendencies. But things changed when she fell for a fellow nurse while stationed in Japan, where she tended to U.S. soldiers wounded in Vietnam. "I realized at that time that I was a lesbian. It was a great feeling. I finally understood what all my feelings were about. It was like a whole new life."
Focus on Focus on the Family
In 2004, involvement by Focus on the Family, the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based evangelical Christian ministry and education center, was central to passage of 11 of the 13 marriage amendments on state ballots that year. Now, as the fight for gay marriage in Massachusetts heats up, Dr. Dobson and his group are readying to do battle in the Bay State.
Gwen Cooper on "Diary of a South Beach Party Girl"
Miami native Gwen Cooper transformed herself from a bookish, nice Jewish girl to a wild nightlife queen when she moved to South Beach, a neighborhood that had just exploded into a hipster destination. It’s the same journey undertaken by the heroine of her debut novel, Diary of a South Beach Party Girl, which chronicles with a clear eye and ready wit the glamorous life of people who are always on the guest list and always have the best drugs. Here’s the interview!
What’s on at the Boston International Film Festival
What another film festival? The Boston International Film Festival is sneaking in under the wire, but don’t let it pass by -- it’s ambitious programming has plenty to offer.
State GOP Committee votes for motion directing Republican lawmakers to support marriage amendment
The Mass. Republican State Committee voted May 24 to instruct Party Chairman Peter Torkildsen to send a written request that Republican state legislators vote in favor of an anti-gay marriage amendment. Debate around the vote exposed a divide on the committee on the issue of civil marriage rights for same-sex couples
Providence to host gay criminal justice conference
The Gay Officers Action League of New England (GOAL-NE) will host the 11th annual International Conference of Gay and Lesbian Criminal Justice Professionals from June 12-17.
Quincy rally for marriage equality draws 100 people
When Sgt. Adrian Gunn joined the Army National Guard eight years ago, he swore an oath to uphold and defend the Massachusetts Constitution, a document that he notes was written "with the intent of safeguarding the rights of every individual American citizen." Gunn, who also served eight years in the U.S. Army, said that that’s why he’d rather not return home from an upcoming deployment to the Middle East to find Massachusetts in the process of trying to amend its constitution to ban marriage equality.
Happy Anniversary, Barney Frank!
During a House Democratic Caucus back on May 3 Congressman Barney Frank urged his colleagues to support legislation to enable federal authorities to prosecute hate crimes targeting victims because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. "If this bill passes people will still be able to call me a fag," he said, taking aim at critics who charged the bill would outlaw name-calling. "Although if they’re in the banking business, I wouldn’t recommend it."
Nazis? AIDS? Camenker must be talking about the gays again
Discussion of gay Nazis, Holocaust denial and AIDS popped up repeatedly during a State House hearing May 29 before the legislature’s joint committee on education.
Political impact of Barrios resignation will be severe
As both the first openly gay and the first Latino state senator to serve in the Massachusetts Legislature, Jarrett Barrios has been a political pioneer and a high-profile advocate on issues of importance to the LGBT and Latino communities, from staunchly defending LGBT youth programs and marriage equality to advocating bilingual education and in-state tuition rates for the children of undocumented immigrants, among many others. He was an obvious choice to speak at a recent panel discussion titled "Elections 2008: Inclusion and Democracy! Is the Latino GLBT community included?" that was held in conjunction with this year’s Latino Pride celebration.
Bill Berggren resigns from Pride Committee
In response to an article published May 23 in The Weekly Dig highlighting his past criminal record, Boston Pride Committee fundraising chair Bill Berggren resigned from the committee that same day. His resignation came in the midst of an effort by Pride board president Linda DeMarco to convene an emergency board meeting to plan a response to the article.
MassResistance crashes gay youth meeting
The May 21 meeting of the Massachusetts Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth got off to a rocky start when a group of attendees, including at least one with ties to the anti-gay group MassResistance, sparred with commission chair Jason Smith over whether or not they had the right to videotape the meeting, held in the State House’s Gardner Auditorium. The week before the meeting MassResistance blogger Amy Contrada urged supporters to attend the meeting, and at the start of the meeting there were two cameras pointed from the back of the auditorium to record the proceedings.
The Movie Place Closes its Doors
Longtime adult film store, The Movie Place on Tremont Street, is closing its doors for good on May 31. The store, which carries adult movies for a predominately gay male clientele, is one of the last gay-owned and gay-themed storefronts on the street and has been in that location for more than 20 years.