Bay Windows
Sara Orozco runs a spirited, uphill race against anti-gay incumbent
Last January openly gay Needham resident Sara Orozco, a psychologist with no political experience, decided to challenge state Sen. Scott Brown (R-Wrentham), an incumbent who bested a Democratic challenger in two prior elections.
Hear him roar: Gregory Maguire’s newest Ozian adventure
When writing about local author Gregory Maguire, it’s hard to resist using one particularly well-worn phrase: "Friend of Dorothy."
Hear him roar: Gregory Maguire’s newest Ozian adventure
Gregory Maguire, famed author of "Wicked", talks about his latest release!
MassEquality urges governor to spare LGBT programs from budget axe
As Gov. Deval Patrick prepares to make emergency budget cuts later this week due to falling state revenues, MassEquality last week urged him to spare funds for programs that serve the LGBT community.
Lily Tomlin takes Worcester
Lily Tomlin comes calling for a swing through Worcester
Come out, come out where ever - and whatever - you are
October 11 was National Coming Out Day. In honor of the big "Yep, I’m gay," holiday, Bay Windows reached out to some folks in the LGBT community for their thoughts and advice on doing the deed.
DJ Dena: Love in the Club
At this point in her career, DJ Dena Cucci can step inside any club she damn pleases. But there’s at least one that she would prefer to avoid.
Army report on Durkin’s death reveals suicide motives
A copy of the Army investigation report on the death of Army National Guard Corporal Ciara Durkin reveals a host of evidence substantiating the Army’s conclusion earlier this year that Durkin, a Quincy resident and an active member of Boston’s LGBT community, committed suicide at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan last September.
MassResistance petitioners spotted at Burlington Mall
MassResistance, the anti-gay group based out of Waltham, has until Oct. 15 to collect 33,297 signatures to try to overturn the legislature’s repeal of the 1913 law, but in the months since they have begun collecting signatures Bay Windows had received no reports of sightings of petition gatherers out collecting signatures until this week, when a tip was received from a Quincy man who said he encountered three people gathering signatures for the 1913 law petition at the Burlington Mall in Burlington the afternoon of Oct. 4.
MASALA Mela gets political
Originally this year’s Massachusetts Area South Asian Lambda Association (MASALA) Mela, an annual party celebrating the local South Asian LGBT community, was conceived as purely a night of dancing, socializing, performances and tasty food, as it has been in the previous four years that the event has been held at Machine nightclub. But Amit Dixit, a MASALA steering committee member, said in the past few weeks the committee decided that this year’s event would be more overtly political.
Milwaukee’s Best
Don’t worry, Boston theatergoers. While it’s never polite to chatter in the audience, there’s at least one faux pas that playwright/director Wesley Savick is sure to overlook: the famous Boston accent.
Startling images
Ten years ago Matthew Shepard’s murder caught the attention of the mainstream media and the public in a way that no anti-LGBT hate crime had done before or since, but it also accomplished another feat: it touched a chord in pop culture and the arts and led to a wave of plays, films, songs, poems, and other creative works, many aimed at mainstream audiences, that depicted his death and grappled with what it meant for American society.
Master of the House
With the summer season but a fond, distant memory, many of New England’s favorite gay getaways are shuttering up for the off-season. But the curtain is still up at The Ogunquit Playhouse, where
Attackers plead guilty in Lowell trans-bashing
Three men charged with assaulting a transgender woman in Lowell in June 2007 pled guilty this week to charges of assault and battery for purpose of intimidation due to sexual orientation and civil rights violations. Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone’s office had urged Superior Court Judge James Lemire to sentence each of the men to one year in prison, but the judge instead sentenced each of the men, Jonathan Artis, Jules Ruggs, and Jeffrey Buchanan, all 20 years old and all from Lowell, to two years probation, 50 hours of community service, and diversity training.
MMTPC, MassEquality call on LGBT orgs to oppose Question 1
In 2007 the LGBT community and its allies succeeded in preventing a ballot question to end same-sex marriage from reaching this year’s ballot. Now there’s another question on the upcoming ballot that’s making Gunner Scott nervous. Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), is working to organize a coalition of LGBT organizations to formally oppose Question 1, which would eliminate the state income tax and lead to an estimated $12 billion cut to the state budget.
Dialing for equalilty
For those hoping to have an impact on the presidential race and on the effort to protect marriage equality both at home and in California, MassEquality’s offices will be one-stop shopping. From now until Election Day, Nov. 4, MassEquality will be holding marathon phone-banking sessions six days a week at its Beacon Street headquarters.
With Chang-Diaz’s nomination official, Wilkerson loses key LGBT support
Last month state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson’s re-election effort was one of the top priorities for Bay State LGBT advocates, but with her defeat in the Sept. 16 Democratic primary and her decision to run for her Second Suffolk district Senate seat as a sticker candidate in November she has lost one major LGBT endorsement, and several other endorsements are still up in the air.
Rushing encourages support for transgender, intersex community
State Rep. Byron Rushing told the attendees at Greater Boston PFLAG’s annual meeting Sept. 25 that with marriage equality secure in Massachusetts the community and its allies need to turn their attention to helping other communities that are lacking in basic civil rights, including the transgender and intersex communities.
Obituary: James E. Fritz
James E. Fritz, PhD, 62, formerly of Cass City, Mich., died unexpectedly June 4, 2008 at home. He was born July 27, 1945.
The Bird and The Bee get bizzy
Maybe it was the trimmed down, bare bones set-up, maybe it was the band’s infectious arrangements of dance infused indie-pop - heck, that cover of Hall & Oates classic "I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)" didn’t hurt either - but ultimately, what The Bird and The Bee showed to the small crowd inside Great Scott on Sept. 28, making music can be a shitload of fun.