NPR's All Things Considered: Remembering Karen Carpenter, 30 years after she died of anorexia

From NPR:

By the time she was 24, Karen Carpenter was already famous, having released more than a dozen hit records with her brother, Richard, including "Close to You," "We've Only Just Begun," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar" and "Top of the World." Less than 10 years later, she'd be gone, the victim of heart failure brought on by anorexia nervosa. Karen Carpenter died 30 years ago Monday at age 32, and her legacy as one-half of the singing duo The Carpenters is a source of some disagreement.

Click here to listen to NPR's All Things Considered: Remembering Karen Carpenter, 30 Years Later.

How gay is that? Ed Koch's coffin exits to `Theme from New York, New York'

BY JIM FITZGERALD, ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK -- Ed Koch couldn't have chosen a more appropriate final farewell to New York City.

An organist played "New York, New York," the iconic ballad made famous by Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra, in a Manhattan synagogue Monday as the former mayor's oak coffin was carried past thousands of mourners, concluding a funeral that recalled the quintessential New Yorker's famous one-liners and amusing antics in the public eye.

Koch died Friday of congestive heart failure at age 88.

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Should the Boy Scouts accept gay members? Share your views for an upcoming story

On Sunday before the Super Bowl, President Obama said Boy Scouts of America should allow gay members. The Boy Scouts board is expected to vote on whether to lift the national ban on Wednesday. There are scouting chapters throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and the Florida Keys.

Do you agree or disagree with the president? Tell us what you think for an upcoming story.

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Gay scouts deliver 1.4 million signatures to Boy Scouts headquarters demanding end to gay ban

Should Boy Scouts accept gay members? Tell us what you think http://bit.ly/VFlaED

News release from Change.org and GLAAD:

• Gay former den leader, gay former Scoutmaster, gay Eagle Scout, and father of gay Scout denied his Eagle Award delivered 1.4 million signatures from their combined Change.org petitions.
• Petition delivery occurs as Boy Scouts Board holds historic vote on ending ban on gay Scouts and leaders.

DALLAS, TX – Four Scout leaders whose petitions on Change.org sparked a national movement to end the Boy Scouts’ anti-gay ban delivered more than 1.4 million petition signatures to Boy Scouts headquarters today as the organization’s Board of Directors began a three-day meeting to discuss overturning the policy.

The petitions were delivered by Jennifer Tyrrell, a gay mom removed from her position as den leader of her 8-year-old son’s Cub Scout pack; Greg Bourke, a gay dad who was forced to resign his position of assistant scoutmaster; Eric Andresen, the father of an 18-year-old gay Boy Scout who was barred from receiving his Eagle Award; and Will Oliver, a 20-year-old gay Eagle Scout.

Says Tyrrell, who launched her Change.org petition in April 2012 with support from GLAAD: “Today, I’m helping deliver more than 1.4 million Change.org petition signatures to the Boy Scouts of America, urging the national board to end the ban on gay youth and parents and give me the opportunity to once again serve my son’s Cub Scout Pack. I do not want one more mother or father to have to look their child in the eyes and tell them that their parents aren’t good enough - or are different. The Boy Scouts of America can do better than that.”

Says Bourke, whose partner and children traveled to Dallas with him to deliver signatures from his petition: “After being forced to resign, I received unanimous support from the Boy Scouts in my Troop, the other Troop adult Leaders, the Troop Committee, my pastor and everyone at my church. In the name of fairness, in the name of equality, in the name of God I ask the Executive Board to please end this harmful discrimination now.”

Says Andresen, delivering nearly half a million signatures from his family’s petition: “I want to tell the BSA that my son Ryan is not inferior and that no parent should ever have to go through delivering devastating news like I had to deliver to my son. I pray that the BSA national board starts to understand this, and acts quickly to make the incredible Scouting journey open to all young men across America.”

Says Oliver, a gay Eagle Scout whose petition called on the National Geographic Channel, a strategic partner of the BSA, to condemn the organization’s anti-gay policy: “We are all invested in the future of Scouting, but its appeal to American families is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain in the shadow of such an extreme stance. The new National Geographic show ‘Are You Tougher Than A Boy Scout?’ is probably not the change the organization needs. It’s time for Boy Scouts to join its peers, the Girl Scouts, Campfire USA, even the U.S. military, in welcoming members regardless of sexual orientation.”

After speaking outside Boy Scouts headquarters today, Tyrrell, Bourke, Andresen, and Oliver hand-delivered the petition signatures to a BSA representative.

Brad Hankins, campaign director for Scouts for Equality, said the people in Dallas today, as well as thousands of Scouts alumni and current Scouts around the country, are calling for an inclusive national organization.

Says Hankins: "In seven months, we've built an organization comprised of thousands of alumni Eagle Scouts, as well as current Scouts and Scoutmasters, who are all very concerned about the future health of an organization we cherish -- the Boy Scouts of America. We believe that this policy change must be enacted as a mitigated solution toward the final goal of ending discrimination throughout all of Scouting, lest the program be isolated on the fringe of our society. As America embraces universal equality, so should the Boy Scouts of America."

Says Mark Anthony Dingbaum, senior campaign manager at Change.org: “Today’s delivery marks one final push by the more than 1.4 million people who’ve taken action on Change.org demanding an end to the Boy Scout’s national ban on gay youth and parents. Through cutting-edge technology and powerful storytelling, Jennifer, Greg, Eric, and Will mobilized millions and stand at an historic moment where their work could undo years of discrimination.”

Says GLAAD President Herndon Graddick: “The Boy Scouts of America have heard from scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that banning gay scouts and scout leaders is wrong. The BSA will continue to hear from these advocates until discrimination against dedicated gay scouts is a thing of the past. Scouting is a valuable institution and this change will only strengthen its core principles of fairness and respect.”

President Obama, in an interview before Sunday night’s Super Bowl, reaffirmed his position that the Boy Scouts of America should end their national ban on gay Scouts and Scout leaders.

Live signature totals from Change.org petitions targeting the Boy Scouts of America: http://www.change.org/boyscouts

Should Boy Scouts accept gay members? Tell us what you think http://bit.ly/VFlaED

Unity Coalition names 2013 Legends Honorees; recipients to be celebrated April 11 on Ocean Drive

From Herb Sosa, president of Unity Coalition:

Unity Coalition | Coalicion Unida announces the 2013 Legends Honorees

Allies of the LGBTQ community present & past that have made a positive mark & contribution and celebrate the good, noble & outstanding within our community

February 4, 2013… Miami Beach, Fl.- Joining the ranks of Mayor Matti Bower, Billy Bean, Sgt. Juan Sanchez, Robin Schwartz, Xavier Cortada, Dale Stine, Comm. Michael Gongora, Mikey Verdugo, Elaine Lancaster, Merle & Danny Weiss and many more, Unity Coalition|Coalición Unida is proud to announce the 2013 recipients of the LEGENDS HONORS AWARD.

This year’s recipients are: WALKER BURTTSCHELL for his activism in repealing DADT, Voter & Blood Ban awareness campaigns; ANTHONY CABRERA for his creativity, direction and leadership with the Miami Gay Men’s Chorus; SANDRA HOLIDAY for her passion in creating the Anita Priest Whispering Angels fund to help LGBT Youth; MARIA MEJIA for her tireless international efforts on HIV/AIDS education; EDWARD OBERLE-LOPEZ for his never-ending energy and willingness to give back to his community; and CRAIG STEVENS for his constant efforts as a positive role model and community activist.

LEGENDS HONORS will be presented at the Unity Coalition|Coalición Unida’s (UC|CU’s) LEGENDS BALL on Thursday, April 11^th, 7pm at the Art Deco Welcome Center – 1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach.

The Legends Ball is the official kick-off and opening of the annual Exhibit & Lectures, co-presented by UC|CU & the Miami Design Preservation League... Leaders, Legends & Lovelies exhibit and lectures are proudly showcased at the Art Deco Welcome Center each April.

This year the Legends Ball will benefit UC|CU’s efforts toward MARRIAGE EQUALITY & year round programming.

Our work is 100% funded by events & private donations, and we are 100% staffed & managed by volunteers. Everything that comes in, goes right back out for programming, leading & assisting our LGBTQ community. Your participation generosity & support will help us make this magical night even better and more successful.

“DESIGNERS & ARCHITECTS CREATE BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS, ART & HOMES FOR ALL, YET CANNOT LEGALLY MARRY IN FLORIDA. THEY CANNOT ENJOY THE RIGHT TO A HOME, FAMILY, RELATIONSHIP & BENEFITS RECOGNIZED BY THE LAW. IT’S TIME FOR THIS TO CHANGE” – Herb Sosa, UC|CU president

LEGENDS BALL: An evening of Seaside Architecture, design, art, music, drinks, light fare and entertainment.

TICKETS: $50 through Feb 15^th. $60 through March 15^th, $75 at door - www.unitycoalition.org

WHEN & WHERE: Thursday, April 11^th, 7pm at the Art Deco Welcome Center – 1001 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach.

WHY: Benefiting UC|CU’s efforts toward MARRIAGE EQUALITY & year round programming.

Veteran gay journalists critical of late New York Mayor Ed Koch's 'lifetime in the closet'

New York's late former mayor, Ed Koch, is being buried Monday and several leading gay journalists have given him quite a send-off:

Andy Humm, Gay City News:

Ed Koch: 12 Years as Mayor, A Lifetime in the Closet

Ed Koch, New York’s mayor from 1978 through 1989, a period of enormous change for the LGBT movement, including the beginning and some of the worst years of the AIDS crisis, died on February 1 of congestive heart failure.

He was 88 years old and died without ever publicly acknowledging his homosexuality. And his inaction during the crucial early years of the AIDS pandemic –– which emerged in 1981 on his watch –– has never been forgiven by large numbers of gay men and others who lost so many loved ones and friends to the virus.

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Michelangelo Signorile, editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices:

Ed Koch and the Corruption of the Gay Closet

To those who claim we suffer no ramifications from closeted public figures, I offer Exhibit A of how the combination of the closet and power corrupts: Edward I. Koch, mayor of New York City from 1978 until 1989 and widely assumed homosexual, who died on Friday at the age of 88. At this very moment, there are closeted gay politicians in Washington and across the country voting against gay rights in part to cover for themselves, driven by personal ambition. They are dangerous individuals, wielding power while harboring a secret they're pathologically afraid will out itself, abusing and terrorizing those close to them as well as many others. Ed Koch is a possible example of the extremes to which they will go.

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Rod McCullom in Ebony:

The True Legacy of Ed Koch

Former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch died Friday of congestive heart failure. The 88-year-old often greeted constituents with the phrase "How'm I doin'?"—and in the two days since his death, a significant amount of kilobytes, ink and virtual chatter has been devoted to Koch’s legacy. The combative former three-term mayor has been generally credited with reversing the city’s  “fiscal and infrastructure challenges” that dominated the 1970s. The former congressman served three terms until David Dinkins defeated him in the 1989 Democratic primary and became the city first—and so far, only—Black mayor.

But by the 1980s, Koch left a disturbing legacy on two key issues that have defined America: Race relations and HIV/AIDS.

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49ers' Chris Culliver, already on hot seat for antigay remarks, now on defensive after Super Bowl loss

BY DANIEL BROWN, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

NEW ORLEANS -- This time, Chris Culliver saw no need to apologize.

Despite surrendering a 56-yard touchdown pass as part of what one teammate called "a rough one," the controversial 49ers cornerback defended his play after the Baltimore Ravens' 34-31 victory Sunday in Super Bowl XLVII.

"I don't care if they was targeting me or not," he said. "They weren't getting open except for the deep players."

And also: "How many pass breakups did I have?"

And also: "They made their plays, we made ours. You can't stop everything."

His brief session in the locker room marked the second time this week that Culliver found himself answering uncomfortable questions. On Thursday, the second-year player from South Carolina spent his news conference apologizing for the anti-gay remarks he made during an interview with comedian Artie Lange two days earlier.

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