Bay Windows
All politics is local
If you thought the election excitement was over for Massachusetts after February’s presidential primary, think again. While the John McCain-Barack Obama swing state smackdown will dominate prime time TV, there’s no shortage of exciting state legislative races where political junkies can get their fix closer to home.
Velocifero
From their robotic name to their signature sound, dark and cold as outer space, Ladytron is not the kind of electro band that rushes to assure you that they have hearts, and not computer chips, in their chests.
From Bike Week to Dyke Week
Last month Provincetown welcomed its new police chief, Jeff Jaran, who came to the gay resort town after 20 years of law enforcement service in various communities in New Hampshire. Jaran joins the department on the cusp of tourist season, one year after a summer in which a pair of high-profile incidents prompted some in the LGBT community to question the department’s effectiveness.
You Belong to Me
It’s a familiar scenario: boy meets boy. Boy schtups boy. Boy leaves before breakfast. Other boy gets obsessive, stalks boy, moves into his apartment building to spy on him.
@#%&*! Smilers
It figures that Aimee Mann, evidenced by the title of her new album, has got a private phrase for people who smile too much. Listening to her music, which tends to get tagged with adjectives like melancholy and bittersweet and fucking depressing, you get the sense that Mann has an inflexible plan for rationing smiles.
Here comes the (lesbian) judge
Cambridge lawyer Maureen Monks has been appointed to the Middlesex Probate and Family Court. Monks sought the nomination through the Governor’s Council, which voted in favor of her nomination at its May 28 meeting.
The Man You Had in Mind
This sweet and well-meaning documentary looks at five male couples at various stages of their relationships. Guess what? Gay people fall in love and have relationships, just like straight people!
Transgender Youth Summit coming to Cambridge
The Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) and the Boston Alliance of LGBT Youth (BAGLY) have teamed up to present the Transgender Youth Summit, a daylong confab that aims to empower trans youth, create a youth leadership network, and promote political and civic activism.
Protagonist
Artsy documentarian Jessica Wu explores the roots of obsession in this fascinating portrait of four men. Wu’s subjects have all been driven to extremes in their lives: one is an "ex-gay" man who’s become an evangelical preacher, one is a bank robber, one is a former terrorist, and one, Wu’s own husband, is so devoted to martial arts that he endures the tutelage of an oddly sadistic instructor.
ACLU’s Norma Shapiro gets her ’Academy Award moment’
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts honored one of its own at its annual Bill of Rights Dinner on May 28, presenting Norma Shapiro, the organization’s legislative director, with its Roger Baldwin Award for her 20 years of advocacy on a range of issues, including education, reproductive rights, the death penalty and marriage equality.
Takin’ it to the streets
When organizers first put out the call for marchers for the first New England Transgender Pride March and Rally, they hoped to get at least 50 participants. So they were astonished when more than 800 people responded through the event website to reserve spots in the march, which takes place June 7 in Northampton.
Lesbians gone wild!
The camera flits through a tightly packed nightclub as a narrator’s voiceover tells us that we’re in the "the hottest lesbian club in the country" and that in her circle of friends "there’s always drama!"
The comeback
Cathy Worthley has a new album, a new concept, and a new gender
Harbor to the Bay pushes for pedalers
Organizers of the 6th annual Harbor to the Bay AIDS charity bike ride kicked off their campaign to recruit riders with a May 19 reception at Club Caf? in the South End (see photos at right). The ride, which starts in Boston and finishes in Provincetown, takes place Sept. 20.
M.A.P. Quest
Steven Fales sings his story in Mormon American Princess
HIV/AIDS leaders press Congress for national AIDS strategy
HIV/AIDS advocates convened in Washington, D.C., on May 20 to hold a congressional hearing at the Rayburn Building to outline their call for the federal government to develop a national strategy to end the epidemic.
Down to the Bone
Why are so many of the gay coming-of-age books about boys? Down to the Bone adds some gender and racial diversity to the growing canon with this tale of a lesbian Latina.
Legal groups warn: don’t rush into lawsuits
This month’s marriage decision in California was a watershed moment in the fight for marriage equality, and LGBT advocates are working to ensure that members of the community do not jeopardize that win with ill-timed lawsuits.
Brand New Frame
This album left me wishing I knew more about folk and roots music so that I could really praise it properly. Hopefully it’s sufficient to say that although I regard most acoustic singer/songwriter CDs that cross my desk with a combination of hope and dread (and dread usually wins out), I was enthralled with this latest effort from our own Zukerman.
Poll finds majority of Californians for marriage equality
For the first time in its three decades of polling on the issue the Field Poll, a survey administered by the non-partisan Field Research Coalition, found a majority of California voters in support of same-sex marriage.