Bay Windows
SoulMaid
Where is the forthright lunacy and dark humor of the good old days of underground films? Where’s the next John Waters? This fun but flawed movie might point the way.
Barney Frank looks into his crystal ball
Kicking off the North East Regional Pride Conference (NERP) on Feb. 29, Congressman Barney Frank predicted sweeping advances for the LGBT community should Democrats take the White House and build on their congressional majorities in the 2008 elections.
Groups encourage black LGBT political leadership
The dearth of openly gay African American elected officials has led the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Institute (GLLI) - the educational and research arm of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund - to partner with the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) in an effort to boost the numbers of gay black political leaders.
Electropop goes the world
Pedigree wise, it doesn’t get much better than MEN, the new club and crunk factory comprised of Johanna Fateman and J.D.Samson, aka two thirds of Le Tigre. Moving from post-punk rabble rousing to post-geek booty shaking, the pair of DJ/producers spin their own music and some killer remixes and mashups in their set.
Jane Doe and Mass. NOW tackle the bathroom argument
The main argument advanced by the Coalition for Marriage and Family against House Bill 1722 is that it would put the safety of women and children at risk by allowing access to women’s bathrooms and locker rooms by assailants claiming to be transgender. But two state organizations that are on the front lines of protecting women’s safety, the domestic violence and sexual assault coalition Jane Doe, Inc., and the Massachusetts chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), argue that such claims are simply fear-mongering.
Eleven Men Out
Forget sociology and meteorology, I’ve found the proof that climate affects psychology in a string of soccer films.
Advocates, opponents of trans rights bill to have their say on Beacon Hill
Brace yourselves. If opponents of transgender rights have their way, the discussion at a March 4 hearing on the transgender rights bill, House Bill 1722, will be derailed in favor of dredging up age-old arguments about who gets to use which bathroom.
McGee court date delayed two weeks
A Fort Myers, Fla., court postponed the arraignment of Carl Stanley McGee, the openly gay assistant secretary for policy and planning in Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration, from Feb. 25 to March 10.
Beantown Softball readies for 2008 season
Dust off those cleats, grease up your mitt with a little Glove Loogie and break out the Ben-Gay. The Beantown Softball League (BSL) will host its annual clinic day April 5 at Smith Field in Allston at noon.
Microsoft pioneer leaves $65 million to LGBT and HIV/AIDS groups
Ric Weiland, one of the first employees of Microsoft and a longtime philanthropist within the LGBT community, bequeathed $65 million to a group of 11 LGBT and HIV/AIDS organizations.
Contrada warns of trans apocalypse
Given that members of the anti-gay group MassResistance have used public forums to accuse gay people of recruiting children for sex and to claim that the Nazis were gay, it’s no surprise that the group’s blogger, Amy Contrada, has some colorful things to say about House Bill 1722, the transgender rights bill. For the past week Contrada has been unveiling chapters in what purports to be a 75-page report on the dangers of the bill.
PFLAG is growing in Mass.
PFLAG is getting new chapters off the ground.
Q Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Years after its cancellation the influential TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which blended genre thrills with teen angst and a girl power message, continues to inspire criticism and debate. It also inspired this book.
GLBT domestic violence orgs. to give training
The GLBT Domestic Violence Coalition (GLBTDVC) on March 11 will present a day-long training on the Intimate Partner Screening Tool, a method to assist service providers in properly determining who is the perpetrator and who is the victim in a GLBT domestic violence situation. The training will take place at Northeastern University’s Curry Student Center from 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Harvard community tackles race and sexuality
It’s hard to imagine two topics more polarizing in America than race and sexuality, and when three Harvard University student groups convened a Feb. 20 forum on homophobia within the black community it was conceivable that the discussion could have erupted into a catastrophic argument. What happened was just the opposite.
Sex for America: Politically Inspired Erotica
There are so many reasons to feel uneasy about the current administration that even us gays can forget that George W. Bush is, as Elliott bluntly reminds us, the "the anti-sex President." The characters in this invigorating anthology hook up amidst concerns about sex education, reproductive rights and sodomy laws, as well as the war, terrorism and encroachments on civil liberties - none of which makes for hot erotica.
Boston Pride to host NERP
About 100 delegates from Pride committees throughout the northeast will converge on Boston for the 20th North East Regional Pride (NERP) conference Feb. 28 - March 2.
Fate of two LGBT-related bills uncertain
Although most folks at the State House are focused on the budget and casino gambling proposals, legislative committees have taken action on several LGBT-related bills this month. The Joint Committee on Education sent two bills, a health education bill supported by LGBT activists and a parental notification bill supported by the anti-gay group MassResistance, to study committees, normally a sign that a bill is dead for the session. Yet proponents for both bills say they expect to press on this session.
Resurrection
Why do physicists say time travel is impossible? It’s downright easy to go back to the 1980s these days, at least musically. Swiss supergroup-in-the-making Kamera are the latest heirs to the flux capacitor, and their sophomore album is a jaunt back to the days of skinny ties, spiky hair and walls of synthesizers.
A new chapter in Union’s good book
For the first time in its nearly 200-year history, Union United Methodist Church will have a woman pastor. The Rev. LaTrelle Miller Easterling was introduced as the Columbus Avenue church’s new pastor at its weekly worship service on Feb. 17.