Bay Windows
Going the distance
Jamie Simpson, a 41-year-old Boston resident, is HIV-positive and healthy, and he doesn’t take that for granted. On April 21 Simpson will be among the 25,000 runners in the 112th Boston Marathon, and this will mark his second time running. But he isn’t just running for himself. Simpson, a member of the Boston Living Center for the last ten years, is one of 17 members of the Living Center’s marathon team, which is raising money for the community and wellness center for people living with HIV/AIDS.
AIDS educator’s trip to Africa hindered by DOMA
Jason Hair-Wynn arrived at his Attleboro home on March 13 to find an envelope from the U.S. Department of State’s National Passport Center in New Hampshire that he thought contained his new passport, a necessity for the month-long trip he’ll be taking this summer to do HIV/AIDS and health education with youngsters in Ghana, Africa.
Shadows of the past
Although he’s something of a national treasure in his native Australia, multidisciplinary artist William Yang is little known here in the U.S. That may change with his current tour of his performance Shadows, which shines a light on the history of prejudice and persecution suffered by German and Aboriginal communities.
AIDS Action Committee scores Orr
As part of AIDS Action Committee’s expanded outreach of the gay male community, the organization has hired Keith Orr, a former Bay Windows editor and the producer/co-host (with Bay Windows publisher Sue O’Connell) of WFNX Radio’s long-running LGBT chat show "One in Ten" as its marketing manager.
New ED for GLBT youth commission; next meeting in Springfield
The Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth this month announced that it has hired Lisa Perry-Wood, formerly a member of the commission, to serve as its first executive director. Perry-Wood is the commission’s second employee, joining administrative assistant Bernie Gardella. She was hired to help better coordinate the work of the otherwise all-volunteer body.
Homo hop
Hip hop has been mainstream for so long that it’s hard to recall it was once underground. But as pop culture has embraced rap, rap has also reflected pop culture’s ambivalence about gay people. Radio friendly rappers can sell millions, and many will cheer or look the other way when homophobic rhymes start to flow. So queer rappers remain underground. But they’re mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.
With progressive challenger, Kerry’s opposition to marriage equality softens
In the midst of a re-election challenge from the left in the Democratic Primary this September, Sen. John Kerry has softened his longstanding opposition to same-sex marriage. In a statement to Bay Windows Kerry said that civil marriage rights for same-sex couples are established law in Massachusetts and should remain so. He has also touted his work to sway state legislators to vote against the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment at last June’s constitutional convention, as proof of his support.
Spring has sprung at NE flower show
Hop in your hybrid car, turn up the tunes and get thee over to the Bayside Expo Center, as it undergoes one of its best annual transformations: that glorious false spring known as the New England Flower Show.
’Family Values’ for everyone!
Nancy Polikoff looks
Commando Cosmos: Homo ambush strikes Faneuil Hall
It’s Friday night at the Bell in Hand Tavern and something is amiss. At first glance all appears normal: guys wearing button-ups or T-shirts and ladies decked out in jeans and tight tops, everyone drinking, flirting, and casually nodding to the top-40 music. But by nine o’clock it’s clear that something is a bit off. As more people pour through the front door there’s a disturbance in the Force: an overabundance of men and a growing shortage of women.
do the twitch
Every Wednesday at The Ramrod, DJ Mac spins new wave, goth and industrial tunes in a toe-tapping time warp called Twitch. Next Wednesday, Twitch switches into high gear with live sets from local new wavers Burnt Fur and Daniel Ouellette.
Advocates turn out en masse for transgender civil rights bill
Supporters of a bill to add gender identity to state civil rights laws far outnumbered opponents at a marathon public hearing before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary at the State House on March 4. The committee listened to 10 hours of testimony on a host of bills related to same-sex marriage, abortion, victim’s rights and other issues. But the bulk of the hearing, which lasted until 11:30 p.m., was devoted to H.B. 1722, the first major piece of transgender rights legislation to come before the Massachusetts Legislature.
Half Moon
Part Kurdish elegy and part oddball road movie, this surprising drama blends the blackest of humor with magical realism to create a wistful look at the Middle East.
Boston vigil in memory of Lawrence King
LGBT youth and allies will gather at the Community Church of Boston March 12 to mourn the death of Lawrence King, a 15-year-old gay middle-school student from Oxnard, California, who was gunned down in his classroom last month. Police believe the murder was an anti-gay hate crime.
Master of puppets
Those of us who grew up in the 1970s or later came of age with the help of children’s television, perky programs that helped us learn to read and count. Isn’t it shame those shows didn’t grow up with us, continuing to teach us valuable life lessons about getting a job, negotiating relationships, and how to find porn online? Enter Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, the creators of the Broadway smash hit and 2003 Tony winner Avenue Q, the cheerfully naughty musical about twentysomethings making their way in New York City.
Sonja
First time writer/director Kirsi Liimatainen takes an unflinching look at the pangs of adolescence in this sad but gentle coming-of-age tale.
Trans conference debates merits of anti-discrimination laws
Advocates debated the efficacy of anti-discrimination laws, one of the sacred cows of the LGBT rights movement, during a Harvard Law School conference on transgender legal issues last weekend.
MARE and the Home to hold adoption and foster forum for LGBT parents
The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) and the Home for Little Wanderers will hold the second in a series of two informational meetings March 11 for LGBT people interested in either adoption or becoming foster parents.
Attorney General Martha Coakley comes out for civil rights protections for transgender community
In a move that will likely give momentum to the nascent effort to amend the state’s civil rights laws to provide protections based on gender identity and expression, Attorney General Martha Coakley is supporting House Bill 1722, a proposal to put those protections on the books. Coakley will give testimony supporting the bill to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which will hold a public hearing at the State House on March 4.
Heavy hitters go to bat for transgender civil rights bill
A marathon March 4 State House hearing on House Bill 1722, which would add gender identity and expression to the state’s civil rights, revealed a huge amount of support for passing the law, including state legislators, Gov. Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley and Congressman Barney Frank. The hearing, which attracted hundreds of people and began at 1:00 p.m., lasted until almost midnight.