Steve Rothaus' Gay South Florida

Video | Anderson Cooper report: Bullying Leads to Child's Suicide

From Gay American Heroes Foundation:

Anderson Cooper's AC360 takes on the Carl Walker-Hoover anti-gay bullying suicide story we've been following over the past week.

Sirdeaner Walker came home, walked up the stairs to the second floor of her home, and saw her son suspended from a support beam in the stairwell, swaying slightly in the air, an extension cord wrapped around his neck, according to police. He apologized in a suicide note, told his mother that he loved her, and left his video games to his brother. Walker said her son had been the victim of bullying since the beginning of the school year, and that she had been calling the school since September, complaining that her son was mercilessly teased. He played football, baseball, and was a boy scout, but a group of classmates called him gay and teased him about the way he dressed. They ridiculed him for going to church with his mother and for volunteering locally.

Original 1972 trailer to 'Pink Flamingos'

Log Cabin gives award to eight Vermont Republican legislators supporting marriage equality

News release from Log Cabin Republicans:

The Log Cabin Republicans announced today that it will award the 2009 Uncommon Courage Award to the eight Vermont state legislators that voted for marriage equality.

“Log Cabin Republicans congratulates our Republican colleagues who have courageously voted for marriage equality in the Vermont state legislature. We celebrate their commitment to the inherent conservative principles of limited government and personal responsibility in addition to basic fairness,” stated Log Cabin Republicans Board Chairman Terry Hamilton. “I am proud to announce that these eight outstanding legislators will receive the 2009 Uncommon Courage Award, highlighting and acknowledging their resolve to vote their conscience in the face of much opposition.”

Vermont State Representative Anne Donahue will travel to Washington, DC to accept the award on behalf of House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Patti Komline, state Senators Diane Snelling and Kevin Mullin, as well as state Representatives Richard Hube, Heidi Scheuermann, Richard Westman, and Kurt Wright. "I think it was a real tribute to our party that in the midst of a very controversial debate, it stayed firm in its philosophy that members have the right to vote their own conscience. There was tremendous public pressure to change our votes and support the governor's veto, but no arm-twisting from within the caucus, and the governor himself honored his word respecting this as a personal issue: he did not try to sway votes,” said Donahue. "There were 11 Democrats who voted against their party in the House, and with huge internal pressure, three changed votes. However the six Republicans stayed firm with their original votes in support of the bill, and each one of those votes proved critical to passage."

Log Cabin Republicans spokesman Charles T. Moran states: “Once again, the linchpin votes for marriage equality is delivered by true Republican conservatives and demonstrates that GLBT causes must be advanced in a bi-partisan format. These Republican votes were crucial in the passage of this legislation and eventual veto-override.”

Log Cabin Republicans & the Liberty Education Forum will present the award on Saturday, April 18 at its annual banquet, as part of a larger convention & symposium being held at the Washington Westin City Center hotel.

Miami Beach Gay Pride celebrates couples together 20 years and longer

From Miami Beach Gay Pride:

MIAMI BEACH GAY PRIDE CELEBRATES OUR LEGACY COUPLES

Join us at the first official Miami Beach Gay Pride and help us recognize our Legacy Couples. Some of these 20+ year LBGT couples will be featured in the Parade!!!

46 Years
Robert Collier, M.D. & Charles (Chuck) Hunziker
Allen Klein & Herbert Bliss

37 Years
Maurice Colton & Norman King
Joe Deleo & Larry Levinson

31 Years
Patrick Pecoraro & Ray Breslin

30 Years
Lorenzo Ruiz & Kenneth Benson
Keith Ridler & Gregory Randall

27 Years
Cheryl Lockwood & Cindy Binder
John Bariletti & Thomas Camerlengo

26 Years
Joe Tom Easley & Peter Freiberg
Sherry Roberts & Dr. Alice Randolph

25 Years
Danie Feaster & Michael Uselmann

24 Years
Mark Steinberg & Dennis Edwards

22 Years
Micah Gill & Scott Stewart
George Franceschini & Henry Rodriguez

20 Years
Ofelia Colunga & Betty Ortega
Tim Hyde and Jason Kent

Click here to see then & now pictures of some these couples

Congratulations to these couples - We hope to continue adding names to this list - If you want to be added tou the Miami beach gay Pride website please e-mail your names and years together.

HRC applauds Washington Legislature for passing Domestic Partnership Expansion Bill

News release from Human Rights Campaign:

Bill adds hundreds of rights and responsibilities to current law

The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today praised the Washington State House of Representatives for passing the Domestic Partnership Expansion bill on a 62-35 vote.  This follows a positive vote of 30-18 in the state Senate several weeks ago.  The bill will provide registered domestic partners with access to the rights and responsibilities granted to spouses under state law.

“We applaud the Washington state legislature for providing these important protections under Washington state law to committed lesbian and gay couples and we thank Senators Ed Murray and Joe McDermott and Representatives Jamie Pedersen, Dave Upthegrove, Jim Moeller and Marko Liias, as well as Equal Rights Washington for their leadership on this civil rights issue,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.  “This is another important step toward full equality, and it will provide tangible, much needed legal protections for families in Washington.”

The bill now heads to the desk of Governor Christine Gregoire for signing.  In 2007, Governor Gregoire signed the first Domestic Partner bill into law, creating a domestic partner registry and providing some rights to lesbian and gay couples and their families.  In 2008, the Governor signed legislation providing domestic partners with 160 of the more than 400 rights and responsibilities afforded to married couples.  This year’s Domestic Partnership Expansion bill grants approximately 250 additional rights and responsibilities to registered domestic partners.

The Human Rights Campaign worked directly with Equal Rights Washington to mobilize thousands of supporters to lobby their legislators in Olympia, send over 35,000 emails and make thousands of phone calls to legislators.

In addition to Washington, eleven states plus Washington, D.C. have laws providing at least some form of state-level relationship recognition for gay and lesbian couples. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa (as of April 27, 2009), and Vermont (as of September 1, 2009) recognize marriage for gay and lesbian couples under state law.  Four states—California, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon—plus Washington, D.C. provide gay and lesbian couples with access to the state level benefits and responsibilities of marriage, through either civil unions or domestic partnerships.

Maine and Hawaii provide gay and lesbian couples with limited rights and benefits. New York recognizes marriages by gay and lesbian couples validly entered into outside of New York.

Lesbian and gay couples do not receive federal rights and benefits in any state. To learn more about state by state legislation visit: www.hrc.org/state_laws.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Charlotte has a teabag situation

NYC's next archbishop will challenge gay marriage

By RACHEL ZOLL, Associated Press

NEW YORK -- New York Archbishop-designate Timothy Dolan said he will use the prominence of his new job to challenge gay marriage legislation in New York, an effort that has gained momentum thanks in part to Gov. David Paterson.

Hours before his installation Wednesday, Dolan said he will work with the state's other Roman Catholic bishops to defeat legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage. Paterson, who is expected to attend Dolan's installation Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral, is set to introduce a gay marriage bill Thursday.

"You'll find I don't shy away from those things. I wouldn't sidestep them," said Dolan, in a news conference. "You could expect me to articulate that with all the clarity ... I can muster."

Dolan, 59, the former Milwaukee archbishop, is known for defending Catholic orthodoxy with a friendly face. His warmth and wit were on display in the cathedral Tuesday night at the first of his two installation services.

He threw his arms around cheering priests and friends, thanked his mother repeatedly for her support, blew kisses to well-wishers and joked that the throne-like archbishop's chair on the altar was "quite comfortable" when he sat in it for the first time during the ceremony.

At the news conference Wednesday, Dolan said he wanted to show the great happiness that can be found in serving and belonging to the church. He lamented the popularity of do-it-yourself spirituality in the United States, saying people "want to believe without belonging."

"We've got to get the impression across that to commit oneself totally, exclusively in an undistracted way ... is one of the most freeing, liberating, joyful styles of life you can lead," he said.

Dolan noted that studies have found that priests are overwhelmingly happy with their work, despite a widespread impression that they're demoralized by the clergy sex abuse crisis and overwork. The number of U.S. priests has been shrinking steadily for decades.

"Joy is contagious - is it ever," Dolan said. "When parents see priests who are happy, who are free, who are focused who have a life of meaning ... that's going to work. That's going to click - I'm hoping."

The Archdiocese of New York is the nation's second-largest diocese after Los Angeles, yet it is the most prominent seat in American Catholicism.

Dolan's predecessors include Cardinal Francis Spellman, who was so influential that his residence was dubbed "the powerhouse." Cardinal John O'Connor was the most forceful Catholic voice in the national debates of his era, especially on abortion.

Dolan succeeds New York Cardinal Edward Egan, 77, who is retiring after nine years.

The archdiocese covers a region with 2.5 million parishioners in about 400 churches and an annual budget estimated to be at least half a billion dollars.

Its vast Catholic service network includes 10 colleges and universities, hundreds of schools and aid agencies, and nine hospitals that treat about a million people annually.

Dolan faces challenges identical to those for bishops nationwide: strengthening the finances of Catholic schools and parishes as Catholics move from urban areas to the suburbs, boosting the low rate of Mass attendance, and serving a growing number of Latinos and other immigrants.

Dolan said the American church has always been a shelter for newcomers. But he said Catholicism has become a "settled, accepted religion."

He said he wanted to revive "a sense of energetic solicitude for the Catholic people."

Dolan is a St. Louis native and the oldest of five children. He holds a doctorate from The Catholic University of America and is former rector of the North American College in Rome, considered the West Point for U.S. priests.

Associated Press writer Virginia Byrne contributed to this story.

Photo: Archbishop Timothy Dolan waves to the congregation during his installation Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Dolan, 59, the former Milwaukee archbishop, is taking over the most visible American job in the Roman Catholic Church and the nation's second-largest diocese after Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris McGrath, Pool)

Theater review | The Andrews Brothers: Can they sing

BY CHRISTINE DOLEN, cdolen@MiamiHerald.com

As a potentially cute idea for a show, Roger Bean's The Andrews Brothers would seem to qualify.

The setup: The Andrews Sisters are booked for a USO show on a little island in the South Pacific during World War II. LaVerne comes down with chicken pox and gets quarantined.

Opening act Peggy Jones (Alisha Todd), a curvy singer with sass, has already arrived on the island. And three stagehand-brothers whose last name also happens to be Andrews are apoplectic, worrying that they'll lose their USO gig if the show doesn't go on. So with Peggy's encouragement, the guys get dolled up in drag and nervously sing the Sisters' hits.

There's not much more to it, really. The Andrews Brothers is more 1940s musical revue with a gimmick than a fully realized musical. And that's particularly true at the Rising Action Theatre, where it's running through mid-May and reportedly pleasing both the gay and elderly segments of the company's audience.

Directed and choreographed by Dave Campbell, with musical direction by Kevin Coughlin, The Andrews Brothers delivers most solidly where it should, in the sound of its music.

As the hapless brothers Andrews, Joel S. Johnson (he's Lawrence), David Meulemans (he's Max) and Fermin Rojas (he's Patrick) have good voices that blend well with Todd's. And the bouncy tunes they deliver, dearly beloved by folks now in their 80s, constitute a World War II hit parade: Mairzy Doats, On a Slow Boat to China, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Bei Mir Bist Du Schon, Rum and Coca-Cola and Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree are but some of the great golden oldies the cast delivers.

The acting? There's not so much of that, not good acting anyway. Todd, who comes close to a wardrobe malfunction or two in Alberto Arroyo's costumes, is the best on the thespian front, displaying moxie, decent dance moves and pretending that there's a spark between Peggy and Patrick. There isn't.

The men move well, but it's unlikely that Bean's show (which premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, a large regional theater, in 2005) is meant to imply that these guys really like dressing up as gals, which seems to be the case at Rising Action. Rojas has a particularly unfortunate problem in that he sweats massively, not just spotting his shirts but drenching every costume he puts on. That's difficult for him, but it makes his ''romantic'' scenes with Todd positively cringe-worthy.

IF YOU GO

What: ''The Andrews Brothers'' by Roger Bean

Where: Rising Action Theatre, 840 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, through May 17

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (show on hiatus this Sunday through April 28)

Cost: $35

Info: 800-595-4849 or www.risingactiontheatre.com

Vocal / choral / piano students at Krop High School to hold 'Voices in the Night' concert April 22 & 23

From Gary Keating:

Voices in the Night – April 22 & 23, 2009

Voices in the Night will be presented by the Vocal / Choral / Piano students of Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School on Weds and Thurs. April 22 & 23 at 7 pm.  “Voices is not your regular high school concert,” said Gary Keating, teacher of the vocal/choral students at MKHS.  “The students choose rep, rehearse and audition the material – we had more than 70 auditions and chose only 23.”  Many of the students are already enjoying careers outside of high school, having done demo tapes, sung backup for major artists and recordings. 

The Voices program for 2009 ranges from rap to a Donzetti aria, Broadway to Gospel.  Some of the pieces include Gracias a la Vida by Violetta Parra, Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge, No Llores arranged by Gloria Estefan, Angels by Robbie Williams, Romanian Dances 1-4 by Bartok. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.  Dinner is available both nights for $7 per person at 5:45 pm. 

Reserve tickets and get more information by e-mailing Gary E. Keating, gkeating@dadeschools.net

Video | Anderson Cooper: It's hard to talk when you're teabagging

Hat tip to Rex Wockner: