Video | Young man secretly records his coming out conversation with mom

Daniel is a young man with a YouTube channel who this week posted a video of his coming out conversation with his mother:

Finally got the strength to come out to my mom. My Mom has been extremely supportive. I could not ask for anyone else. Love you :) Every circumstance is different and you will know when the right time to come out is. Stay strong. Babz and I are here for you. :) Note: I decided to post this so that I could share my experience with you. Hopefully it will give hope to those who do not have such supportive families. Also, I know I am on my phone the whole time. My phone is my comfort blanket. I literally cannot put it down when I'm anxious. I do not mean any disrespect to the content or conversation. OH, and she didn't know she was being recorded. I put the camera in a tissue box on top of the refrigerator.

Parents worry over gay Florida A&M University drum major's hazing death probe

BY MIKE SCHNEIDER, ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORLANDO, Fla. -- In the three months since a gay Florida A&M University drum major was beaten to death, his parents have waited as authorities arrested seven people in a pair of other hazing cases tied to the school's renowned Marching 100.

Four FAMU band members were arrested last month for punching and paddling band pledges. Three more band members were charged in December with hazing after a female band member's beating left her with a broken thigh and blood clots.

Both of those episodes happened within weeks of Robert Champion's fatal beating on a FAMU bus outside an Orlando hotel after a performance, but no one has been charged in that case.

His parents, Robert Sr., and Pamela, trust the process but find the investigation's pace troubling, said their lawyer, Chris Chestnut.

"It's very disheartening, discouraging and disappointing to see arrests made for hazing with minor injuries but none for a murder," Chestnut said.

Click here to read the complete article.

Classmate testifies: Tyler Clementi's roommate said he used his webcam to see if Clementi was gay

BY GEOFF MULVIHILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A Rutgers University student who says she saw a webcast of a classmate's intimate encounter with another man says one of the men had his shirt off but nothing more graphic than kissing was shown.

Rutgers student Cassandra Cicco testified Friday in the trial of Dharun Ravi (DAHR'-uhn RAH'-vee), a former Rutgers student accused of invasion of privacy and bias intimidation.

The case sparked a national conversation about bullying of young gays after Ravi's roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide days after the webcast in September 2010.

Cicco says Ravi told her he wanted to use his webcam to see if his roommate was gay. But she said he didn't seem to have a problem with homosexuality.

To convict Ravi of bias intimidation, prosecutors would need to show he acted because he was anti-gay.

Click here for periodic updates.

YoungArts Miami celebrates young South Florida winners Friday, Sunday at South Beach theaters

YoungArts Miami continues this weekend on South Beach.

YoungArts celebrates the 2012 winners from South Florida. From February 22 to 26, these 57 young artists will enjoy the rare opportunity to take master classes and interdisciplinary workshops from world-renowned artists, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Michael Tilson Thomas, Edward Villella, Maria Martinez-Cañas, Daniel Arsham, Roberto Juarez, and other South Florida masters in a variety of artistic disciplines.

Click here for more information. Here are details for performances Friday night and Sunday afternoon:

Women's Winter Party presents Pa'Ella on Friday, March 2, at The Stage in Miami's Design District

From Lynn Bové of icandee events:

Friday, March 2, 2012

Pa'Ella

10:00 PM - 03:30 AM

The Stage
170 NE 38th St, Miami
Passes: Women's

GA $12 advance/$15 day of - Buy Now

Feel the heat at one of Miami’s coolest live music venues for a special performance by Jesse, Angie & Nicolle of The Chirino Sisters and their band. Plus DJ GiGi spins a musical mix of classic salsa & merengue, sexy reggaeton and pulsating Latin house. All these sounds will be served up at Pa’Ella, our signature Latin event co-produced by Icandee Events. The rhythm is sure to keep you on the dancefloor all night enjoying plenty of caliente eye candy. This event is sponsored in part by Tampico.

Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom told, 'Pick up the flag and carry it with pride!'

Written by Broward County HIV/gay activist Michael Emanuel Rajner to Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Charlotte Rodstrom for South Florida Gay News:

For several years LGBT activists have lobbied and been vocal with Fort Lauderdale’s elected officials and candidates vying for office, to recognize our needs and value us as a marginalized community of people.  While officials continue to make appearances and promises at LGBT-events and functions, their promises often go unfilled and action has been cowardly and slow.

Click here to read Rajner's complete article.

Opening statements start in New Jersey for Tyler Clementi webcam spying trial

BY GEOFF MULVIHILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A prosecutor says a former Rutgers student charged with using a webcam to spy on his roommate's intimate encounter with another man was troubled to learn that he'd be living with a gay man.

Opening statements began in the trial of 19-year-old Dharun Ravi. He faces 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and charges that allege he tried to cover his tracks.

The case touched off a national discussion about bullying of young gays after Ravi's roommate Tyler Clementi killed himself in September 2010, days after the alleged spying.

Prosecutor Julia McClure told jurors Friday in her opening statement in Ravi's trial that he began telling friends he was unhappy to have a gay roommate soon after he got his first-year housing assignment from Rutgers in August 2010.

Click here to read the complete article.

Gay marriage question evolves one state at a time; Maryland about to become eighth state to legalize

BY CURTIS TATE, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON -- Though same-sex marriage is racking up victories in state legislatures and federal courts, and gaining public support, especially among younger people, it could be years before gay and lesbian couples can marry in all 50 states.

No current court case will result in same-sex marriage nationwide, legal experts say, and the best near-term outcome for supporters will be that some states allow it, and the federal government will defer to each state on the question of who is married and who isn't.

And in the meantime, opponents of gay marriage vow to take the issue directly to voters - and the ballot box is the one place where they haven't lost.

"I think the country is likely to be divided on this issue for a long time," said Andrew Koppelman, a law professor at Northwestern University.

Increasingly, courts and state legislatures have decided that same-sex couples shouldn't be treated differently from opposite-sex couples. It's an incremental process, playing out state by state, reflecting the feelings of a changing but still divided public.

On Thursday, the Maryland legislature approved a bill to legalize gay marriage. Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, said he would sign it, making Maryland the eighth state to give gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.

Click here to read the complete article.

Comic strip artist and illustrator Chris Companik, who documented his fight with HIV and AIDS, dies

BY STEVE ROTHAUS, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com

Chris Companik, an Atlanta illustrator and comic book artist who documented his fight with HIV and AIDS, has died.

"My prayers for your family and the multitudes you've touched," wrote one friend on Companik's Facebook wall.

Companik last posted on Facebook a month ago.

"I knew that his health was declining," said Mark S. King of Atlanta, formerly of Fort Lauderdale, who knew Companik since about 1993. "The subject matter of his strips did not reveal that."

This is how Companik described himself on his personal website:

"I'm a published cartoonist, a romantic at heart, a soap opera addict, a semi-average bowler, the former Advertising Director for the country's largest packaged concrete mix company ("Hey, don't you know how to patch that sidewalk?"), a die-hard B-52's fan, lives for the Atlanta Braves..."

Companik also maintained a comic strip site about living with his AIDS: HIV + Me.

From that website:

A graphic rendering (OK, OK, it's a comic-strip) guide to living with HIV and AIDS, by Chris Companik

When I first got the diagnosis, I remember complaining to a fellow friends (also HIV+) "Why don't they hand you something when you get news like this?" A subsequent therapy session, general b.s..-ing with friends, a reminder I wasn't doing "How to build a sidewalk" brochures any longer, and soon, "HIV + Me" was evolved.

Said King, who also has HIV and blogs at MyFabulousDisease.com:

"The man was talented. He was a talented artist, first and foremost. He used that talent to describe his life with HIV. Those strips were personal to him. They often reflected actual episodes of his life.

"The other thing about Chris that I admired: he was a very kind, very chill kind of guy. Very kind and very sweet. That did not mean he couldn't be a ferocious advocate," King said Thursday. "He addressed homophobia, stigma of people with HIV and had a lot to say about the drug companies and medication over the years. he was able to get away with really strong messages because it was in the from of this charming little comic strip."

Grindr, Courage Campaign, gay activists push Democratic Party to support marriage equality

Courage Campaign and gay activists including Pam Spaulding (Pam's House Blend blog) have teamed with Grindr, the gay men's dating app, to leverage the Democratic National Committee to support marriage equality.

The campaign hopes to mobilize Grindr users to sign pro-marriage equality petitions, which will be delivered to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the South Florida congresswoman.

Here's the complete news release:

Los Angeles -- The Courage Campaign, a national, progressive and grassroots online organization, and Grindr for Equality, the gay rights and political action initiative mobilizing members of the world's largest all-male social network Grindr, have teamed up to petition the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to help fund efforts to support marriage equality in various ballot initiative fights this election year.

“We're the ones putting Democrats in office all the time so why shouldn’t the DNC support the rights of same-sex couples?” asked Rick Jacobs, chair and founder of the Courage Campaign. “It's time for the DNC to have our backs. After all, Democrats are supposed to fight for equal opportunities and justice for all Americans.”

Voters in as many as five states are set to face ballot questions on same-sex marriage this year. In North Carolina and Minnesota, voters will face constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage in June and November, respectively; in Maine, voters will face a ballot question on whether to permit same-sex marriage; in Washington State, opponents of marriage equality announced plans to file for a ballot referendum on the marriage equality law signed last week by Gov. Gregoire; and if, as expected, the Maryland Legislature and Gov. O'Malley enact marriage equality in Maryland, opponents are also likely to qualify a ballot referendum. Given longtime gay, lesbian and bisexual voter support for Democrats and the array of fights this year, that makes the DNC's support critical.
In 2008, the DNC chipped in $25,000 to help defeat Prop 8 in California. Nationwide, a whopping 80% of self-identified gay, lesbian or bisexual voters say they voted for the Democrat in their local race for the U.S. House that year, according to CNN's exit poll. In October, DNC Chairwoman and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a supporter of marriage equality for same-sex couples, told reporters at a fundraiser she would "certainly consider" funding efforts to support the rights of same-sex couples. On Friday, February 17, the DNC and Obama campaign reported raising $29.1 million in the month of January alone.

"The United States holds our largest number of users and we seek to mobilize them to make sure we are all treated equally under the law," said Joel Simkhai, Grindr's founder and CEO. "During this all-important election year we must remind those in power that we are not fighting for special rights: we're fighting for equal rights."

Courage and Grindr for Equality are joined by three state-based activists working to support marriage equality in their respective states: Darcy Burner, a Democratic candidate running to represent Washington's First District in Congress; Pam Spaulding, founder of the popular Pam's House Blend blog in North Carolina; and Bill Harnsberger, the longtime DailyKos front-page writer known as Bill in Portland Maine. The three activists authored e-mails on behalf of Courage Campaign to Courage's members in their three states. Courage Campaign's petition also went out to members in Minnesota, which is facing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, as well as other members nationwide, while Grindr for Equality sent a broadcast asking its members who use the popular app to sign.
The Courage Campaign and Grindr for Equality petition will be delivered to DNC Chairwoman Wasserman Schultz. The text can be found at www.couragecampaign.org/DNCMarriageEquality.