MCOM 105 Class Reader: GAY & LESBIANS MEDIA & ISSUES

|| NEWS || January 19, 2007 Cast of GREY’S ANATOMY

Advocate.com http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid41231.asp (Also posted on ABC NEWS.com) Washington, rebuked by ABC, apologizes for antigay epithet (Sandy Cohen, AP)

The heated controversy at ABC's top show, Grey's Anatomy, boiled over Thursday as the network rebuked costar Isaiah Washington for an antigay comment and Washington issued a lengthy apology. ''We are greatly dismayed that Mr. Washington chose to use such inappropriate language at the Golden Globes, language that he himself deemed 'unfortunate' in his previous public apology,'' the network said in a statement. ''His actions are unacceptable and are being addressed,'' the statement concluded.

During a backstage interview Monday at the Globes gala, Washington denied involvement in a heated on-set incident in October during which an antigay remark was reportedly uttered. ''No, I did not call [costar] T.R. [Knight] a faggot,'' Washington told reporters. ''Never happened, never happened.''

In his apology Thursday, Washington acknowledged ''repeating the word Monday night.'' ''I apologize to T.R., my colleagues, the fans of the show, and especially the lesbian and gay community for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance. I marred what should have been a perfect night for everyone who works on Grey's Anatomy. I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.''

ABC said in its statement it has ''a longstanding policy to maintain respectful workplaces'' for its employees, adding that the network had ''dealt with the original situation in October, and thought the issue resolved.'' The statements came a day after the president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation demanded an apology from Washington.

On Thursday, GLAAD president Neil Giuliano said he was encouraged by Washington's latest remarks. ''We are...optimistic that it may mark a turning point in this deeply troubling situation,'' Giuliano said.

Washington said Thursday that he welcomes the chance to meet with gay and lesbian leaders ''to apologize in person and to talk about what I can do to heal the wounds I've opened.'' ''I know a mere apology will not end this, and I intend to let my future actions prove my sincerity,'' Washington said. People Magazine January 16, 2007

Katherine Heigl Slams Costar for Slur http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20008702,00.html

Photo by: Lisa Rose / JPI; DIAS / NEWSPIX INTERNATIONAL

There's trouble brewing among the cast of Grey's Anatomy. Again.

At the Golden Globes on Monday, Katherine Heigl slammed her costar, Isaiah Washington, for using a slur about fellow cast member T.R. Knight, who confirmed exclusively to PEOPLE in October that he is gay.

At issue was a statement Washington made in the Golden Globes press room when he was asked about an alleged on-set incident between himself and Knight. "No, I did not call T.R. a faggot," he said, according to Access Hollywood. "Never happened, never happened."

Heigl, who is close friends with Knight, criticized Washington's statement. "I'm going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period," she told Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson. "I'm sorry, that did not need to be said, I'm not okay with it."

Asked if Knight's feelings were hurt by the comment, she said: "I don't see how you could not be under those circumstances."

Heigl said she hoped the cast would work through the incident like a family. "I just feel like this is something that should be very much in house we need to deal with."

Still, she made it clear that she would stand up for Knight anytime. "T.R. is my best friend. I will throw down for that kid."

After the comments in the press room, Washington continued to address questions about the alleged on-set incident, telling Access: "There is no way I could do anything so vile, and so horrible, not only to a cast mate, but to a fellow human being."

He also said that he has completely made up with fellow costar Patrick Dempsey after the two had a scuffle in October.

"I kiss Patrick Dempsey," said Washington. "We sing 'Ebony and Ivory' every day since the so-called incident and it hasn't come up."

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Results for the question:What was the most embarrassing gay story of 2006?

Rosie calling Kelly Ripa a homophobe 10.1%

Boy George cleaning trash 2.3%

Mary Cheney getting knocked up 2.8%

Mark Foley’s IMs 25.7%

Ted Haggard and his crack-selling hooker 12.0%

George Michael getting arrested for the umpteenth time 10.7%

Out putting Paris Hilton on its cover 36.3%

Which issue is most important to you when you vote?

Gay marriage 43.5%

Gay adoption 3.0%

The war in Iraq 30.4%

A woman’s right to choose 3.8%

Terrorism 4.3%

The following stores were posted on AfterEllen.com

Sarah Warn, Editor, AfterEllen.com

“…Erosion Media, the company I started with my partner which owns AfterEllen.com, AfterElton.com, and three other gay and lesbian websites, has been acquired by Logo, the LGBT cable channel and entertainment source from MTV Networks.

This is a great fit for us, because the folks at Logo are just as committed to LGBT entertainment as we are, and their expertise in television and authentic content

creation and programming is an excellent complement to our online experience.”

Lesbian Magazines Reinvent Themselves

by Heather Aimee O..., Contributing WriterJanuary 9, 2007

Last year, long-running lesbian magazine Girlfriends ceased publication after more than a decade in print, but the

closing of its pages did not necessarily indicate the death of the industry. “There have been enormous changes in the

lesbian publishing industry,” said Heather Findlay, Girlfriends' former editor-in-chief. “First of all, it is an industry right

now.”

Many pioneering lesbian magazines rightly assumed they were targeting a closeted audience, and for women who

came out before the emergence of the internet or The L Word, publications such as The Ladder, Curve and

Girlfriends, among others, provided a place for community and self-reflection. These days, newer magazines such as

Velvetpark and Jane and Jane, as well as regional publications such as Los Angeles ' Lesbian News and Florida's She have contributed to a much more open environment for lesbians and bisexual women.

“Throughout the years, we noticed a distinct increase in the openness of Girlfriends' readers to their sexuality,” said

Findlay, who is also the president and editor-in-chief of H.A.F. Publishing. “We were not publishing to a closeted

audience.”

Now, as fewer lesbians remain closeted, several publishers have launched magazines designed to target niches

within the lesbian community, despite competition with the internet for readers and advertising dollars. Even travel and

lifestyle company Olivia plans to jump into the fray with the relaunch of their website (Olivia.com) and a print magazine

set to debut near the end of 2007.

Grace Moon, founder and editor-in-chief of Velvetpark, started the magazine in 2002 under the auspicious premise of

“dyke culture in bloom.” A lesbian lifestyle magazine, Velvetpark purchased the subscriber list to Findlay's Girlfriends and On Our Backs after they folded last year.

Though Moon had no experience in publishing or journalism when she began Velvetpark, she was motivated to create

a magazine that was as inspired editorially as it was visually. With a background in fine art, she approached the task

like a curator at an art exhibit and brought together “a bunch of creative thinkers and put them between two pieces of

paper.” The editorial staff, a combination of “street smart and high art,” now includes a diverse group of

photojournalists, novelists, poets and musicians.

After years of launching magazines for other people, Alison Zawacki and Debbie Wells finally decided it was time to

start their own: Jane and Jane. Though they initially considered focusing on adventure, the idea evolved into a home

and family magazine for lesbians because “with all of the attention given to domestic partnerships and all of our lesbian

friends starting families with children, we saw a need for something that was not being filled.”

Jane and Jane covers a variety of topics, from parenting and relationships to financial planning and health, fine wine

and cuisine. Zawacki and Wells believe they were able to launch their magazine in part because of the greater visibility

of the lesbian community and because shows like The L Word created “a whole new awakening in our society with

regards to the lesbian lifestyle.”

Trying to fill a niche market can be difficult. But Amy Errett, CEO of Olivia, agrees with Zawacki and Wells that many

lesbians, especially older women, are looking for a magazine that caters to their specific interests.

What is missing from current lesbian media offerings, said Errett, are enough publications that provide “a well-rounded

view of all aspects of women's lives in all age groups.” Though their magazine is not expected until late 2007 or early

2008, Olivia will begin with a relaunch of a “fully integrated, lifestyle-oriented website.”

Findlay also sees “a definite trend away from using magazines as a political tool,” and a need for more articles that

tackle socioeconomic issues. Because the lesbian publishing industry is so young, she said, it never had a chance to

participate in the glory days when both circulation and advertising dollars were up.

One of the major benefits of this period was that editors had the money to nurture and support writers to go out and do

investigative reporting. “That happens very rarely now,” said Findlay, who cited as examples Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, which was originally published as a two-part article in Rolling Stone.

“We're missing out on the enormous contributions these articles make on how we think,” Findlay said.

Both politics and a desire for collaboration did, in fact, influence Moon to publish Velvetpark, which was launched

shortly after Sept. 11. “At the time,” she recalled, “New York City was putting itself back together emotionally and

financially; 2002 was a year of forging ahead and optimism amidst these obstacles and the politically and socially

charged atmosphere of the time.”

It was also, according to Moon, the beginning of a “post-queer era” where gay and lesbian media outlets were moving

past the discussion of “identity and sexuality to explore the nuances of our cultural expressions.”

There are still many more topics that deserve our attention, said Findlay. “We need to cover more issues: trans issues,

especially the transsexual community and the violence they experience; the state of the lesbian movement — who is

out there fighting for us right now and how; the difference between regional and local issues verse national; more

reporting on lesbians and their money; how class affects lesbians; profiles of lesbians who are activists, but not

necessarily gay activists; how young people are coming out; and immigrant lesbians and their families.”

Findlay also believes that the lesbian publishing industry is suffering the same woes as the mainstream press. “In an

effort to compete with the internet for readers, the content of most magazines — straight or gay — has become more

superficial and Hollywood-obsessed.”

In such a competitive industry, Findlay said that she understands the pressure — “We, too, had to put celebrities on

the cover of Girlfriends to survive” — but she also wonders where many LGBT publications were during the months

leading up to the Foley scandal, and why not enough money is put into Washington coverage. “How did we not know

about the Foley scandal?” she asked. “The Advocate used to go after politicians that voted anti-gay and threaten to out

them. But now there is a lack of political commitment.”

While the advent of the internet certainly brought new challenges, it also made publishing much easier and more

democratic. “We are competing in a very crowded environment of information,” said Moon. “Everyone and their

grandma can create content and have it distributed in some way.” Still, she admitted, Velvetpark “can do things online

that we can't do in print,” such as podcasts, AV projects, newsletters and MySpace.

The style of the internet has also influenced the stories and layout of magazines, said Zawacki and Wells, as they tend

to publish “smaller chunks of information” and try to cater to a “fast-paced society that prefers short reads.”

Zawacki and Wells see the internet as a vehicle for people who don't have the finances to pay for printing and

distribution, as it is far easier to start a website than a print magazine. “The printing costs alone are enough to put a

startup under, and as soon as you do not have the advertising base to cover these costs, you will find yourself in

trouble.”

Though companies like Orbitz and American Airlines are discovering the “benefits of reaching out to the gay spending

power,” they said, lesbian magazines today need to think as much about advertising dollars as they do their “staying

power on the coffee table and how to keep from being tossed.”

Olivia also intends to take full advantage of the internet, said Errett, who sees it as a reliable tool for growth. The online

version of Olivia Magazine will have a section called Life that covers a range of issues including relationships,

parenting, health and fitness. “When you look at MySpace or LinkedIn, lesbians are wondering why they do not have

that type of community space for them.”

Because the internet moves so fast, many magazines are now “more feature-driven as opposed to news-related,” said

Zawacki and Wells. “By the time news-related information is passed on to the reader, they have already read it on the

web.” Instead, readers who pick up a magazine want to be entertained “while enjoying themselves in a leisurely

environment away from their computers — such as over a cup of coffee or while relaxing at home.”

In fact, that might ultimately be the staying power of lesbian print magazines. Regardless of the competition with the

internet and mainstream press, even now many lesbians want a tangible magazine that represents their lives.

Reading a magazine is still something people do for pleasure, Moon pointed out, “in bed, on the toilet, in a plane, at

the dentist office. You cannot comfortably check your email and sit on the john at the same time — not yet, at least.”

The lesbian magazine industry is also all independently owned and operated by women, Moon pointed out. “Women

still represent a weaker economic bracket and smaller financial networks compared to the old boys' clubs that have

dominated media. When you look at the straight world, you can name the most recognized female entrepreneurs in

media on half of one hand: Martha [Stewart] and Oprah [Winfrey]. And the men? Well, there's [Rupert] Murdoch, [Ted]

Turner, Sumner Redstone — and the list goes on.”

When there is finally a female-owned media conglomerate like Condé Nast or Viacom, Moon said, “That's when we

can really talk about how the industry has changed.”

For more info, visit curvemag.com, janeandjane.net, lesbian news.com, shemag.com, and

velvetparkmagazine.com.

The Tonight Show's Vicki Randle by Suzanne Corson, October 10, 2006

http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/People/2006/10/randle.html

In what may be a record, for the last 14 years there has been an out lesbian on network television nearly every weeknight: Vicki Randle, percussionist and vocalist with The Tonight Show band. Randle has been singing us in and out of commercial breaks, tossing her shekere, and playing with the band since Jay Leno took over from Johnny Carson in May 1992. She has also made history as the first woman musician in The Tonight Show band.

Randle's personal life is not a huge topic on the show, but it hasn't been a secret, either. With the exception of band leader Kevin Eubanks, whose bantering with Leno is a regular part of the show, this is true for the other band members as well. Their lives are just not discussed much — their music speaks for them.

The role of a background player or “side person” is a familiar one for Randle. This past year she went on the road as percussionist and background vocalist with Cris Williamson to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Williamson's classic album, The Changer and the Changed. That milestone had personal resonance for Randle as well, since that was the first studio recording Randle was ever on.

In fact, Randle has recorded and toured with most of the iconic figures in women's music: Williamson, Meg Christian, Linda Tillery, Holly Near, Deidre McCalla, Ferron and Margie Adam, among others. Randle has also toured or recorded with mainstream greats such as Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro, Wayne Shorter, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, George Benson, Celine Dion, Dr. John, Herbie Hancock, the Doobie Brothers, Todd Rundgren and Mickey Hart. She toured so much in the 1980s that she actually turned down lucrative gigs with Anita Baker and Diana Ross so she could get off the road for awhile.

In 2006, she's stepping out in front with her first solo CD, Sleep City: Lullabies for Insomniacs. Though she's performed solo in the past, as she did this past August at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, she's resisted the call of a solo recording until now.

Not that there weren't offers. When she was in her early 20s, companies such as Motown offered her record deals, but Randle wasn't willing to conform to their model of who a black woman singer should be — a stick-figure thin, sequin-gowned woman singing about the man who done her wrong.

And Randle wanted to work with more than her voice. Music has always been an integral part of her life. “Both of my parents are musicians,” she says. Her family has recordings of Randle singing when she was 2 years old. She first picked up a guitar at age 9, and she also plays the piano in addition to the percussion instruments she's seen with on NBC every weeknight.

“I hadn't planned on getting a steady job as a musician,” Randle says. “In making the decision to be a musician, I knew that meant I would be poor. And I had evidence of that.” Her father was a professional jazz pianist, and he and many other jazz musicians were frequently out of work in the '50s and '60s, when that upstart rock 'n' roll was pushing jazz out of the clubs and concert halls. Luckily, Randle's father had a full-time job at the post office. “It was the jazz

musicians' motto in L.A.: There's always work at the post office,” Randle recalls.

She herself hasn't had to resort to sorting mail; since 1992, she's had a steady gig with The Tonight Show band, originally fronted by Branford Marsalis and now led by Kevin Eubanks. Randle's visibility on the show has increased recently, since she now sits next to Eubanks, and like her fellow bandmates, she's there whenever the show isn't on hiatus. Sick days just aren't done. They work 47 weeks each year, five days per week.

And even when the show is on hiatus, Randle keeps working. During a recent — and rare — two-week break, she played at Michigan, headlined at Sistahs Steppin' in Pride (a dyke march in Oakland, Calif.), and performed at club gigs celebrating the release of her new CD.

During one Sleep City show in Berkeley, Calif., she was backed by guitarist Nina Gerber, vocalist Teresa Trull and Bonnie Hayes, her CD's producer, on keyboards. Special guests included Linda Tillery and Melanie DeMore. I asked her about the experience of playing with mostly women as opposed to The Tonight Show band, where she's the only woman.

“There's an obvious comfort level — being a lesbian is something I don't have to think about or talk about when playing with other lesbians, so with that out of the way, we can just deal with the music part,” she says. There are some inevitable comparisons and contrasts when playing with men, but she believes, “Making music as an art form, in its strictest form, strips away all the qualifiers. When you're in the music, you're not having to deal with your looks, your height, your gender, etc.”

She's grateful that she's had the opportunity to work with a lot of great male musicians, but she admits to having been lonely when on the road with them in the past. “We didn't have the same sensibilities. Even if we had the same politics, we just didn't look at the world in the same way.”

When comparing her predominantly lesbian audiences to more mainstream ones, Randle thinks there are both advantages and disadvantages to playing for groups of lesbians. “One of the things I appreciate about a predominantly lesbian audience is, I feel that since it's a small pond, there's a good chance that they're probably already familiar with me and with what I do, so we share a reality in a certain way. I don't have to cross so many boundaries to get there with them,” she says.

On the other hand, “there's kind of an expectation from a lesbian audience that's a little difficult to maneuver sometimes,” Randle says. “They expect or want me to validate that reality, such as ‘We're all lesbians; let's sing about that.' And for many musicians, that can be restrictive.”

She continues: “We're coming to you with our best work, our most creative expression, and we want to be received in that way. Sometimes mainstream audiences, which obviously include lesbians, aren't hardwired to expect certain things from me. So I often feel that I have more artistic freedom in front of an audience of people who have no preconceived notions of me.”

That being said, she understands why many lesbians do have specific expectations of lesbian performers. “I've never had to experience the kind of isolation that many women do, women who aren't on either coast or aren't in a major city, who don't have the ability to travel. … So many women don't get to experience a lot of validation.” And they look to lesbian performers to provide it.

She's been out to Jay Leno and others at The Tonight Show from day one, and it's never been an issue. Leno, who sometimes teases heterosexual bandleader Kevin Eubanks about being gay, is particularly supportive of Randle. She mentions that Leno has an almost reflexive habit of looking over at her after he tells a joke about lesbians. “If I thought a joke were mean, I think he would care. … Jay has been nothing but respectful. Kevin, too. Those two are my biggest allies.”

Leading in and out of commercial breaks, and when entertaining the studio audience, the band often performs songs by the guest artists appearing on that evening's program. At first Randle wondered about the pronouns in the lyrics of the songs she sings and asked Eubanks if she should be changing them; he said no. “We decided that whatever song we learn, I sing it the way it was sung by that person. I don't know if anyone's noticed, but sometimes I sing love songs that sound like they're to women. … I get to move back and forth between the characters. I don't feel like I'm restricted in any way.”

One of the things that Randle appreciates about the show is its equal opportunity humor. “They joke just as often about people's homophobia as they do about people being gay. They joke equally about Democrats and Republicans. They work very hard to keep it that way.”

Randle herself was politicized from early on. Raised in Los Angeles as part of a mixed-race family, she came of age in the midst of the civil rights movement as well as the battle for gay rights and women's rights.

Her experience of gender was different from others who grew up in the '60s: “One of the great things about [attending] Catholic [elementary] school was the absence of teaching that there would be a gender difference. I didn't learn, for instance, that I was supposed to play dumb. … There was a feminist aesthetic. The nuns were amazing women, and I assumed all women were like that; I did not have any models that women had limits. The world was not presented as a place where women had limits. Imagine my surprise …”

That changed in middle school, when Randle was treated as an alien for being a girl who played guitar. “But even when there were times when I knew it would be to my advantage to downplay my abilities, I didn't,” she says. She had gained a foundation from the sisters in Catholic school of not putting restrictions on herself or her abilities.

Yet her gender helped her in her overwhelmingly white public high school in Garden Grove, Calif., where they moved after her parents divorced. “In most of my classes, I was the only black person most of the other students had ever seen, outside of television. My brothers got into fights everyday; I was saved from that because of my gender.”

During high school, many of her friends were being drafted. “I was a math geek, addicted to logic, and logically, the [Vietnam] war didn't make sense, the way people laid it out.” In between club gigs and studio sessions in the '70s and '80s, Randle was often at marches and rallies for various causes.

Randle realized that she was a lesbian after high school and began performing with lesbian and other women musicians. She values her friendships from those days, such as the one with Cris Williamson. She speaks with pride and admiration about her friend: “Cris is in charge of her own music now, with her own label, Wolf Moon Records.”

Though Randle does have her own publishing company, Raging Hormones (“because hormones will always be in play in my life”), she didn't want to establish her own label for her CD, so she was grateful to Williamson and to Judy Werle for allowing her to release Sleep City on Wolf Moon. “My shipping and receiving department is Cris Williamson. There is something so exquisitely ironic about that, but Cris packaged up and mailed all the pre-orders on my CD. How can you quantify that kind of relationship?” Randle asks.

Her long-term friendship with Bonnie Hayes is another that Randle treasures. “We worked well together on this CD. She found the heart in the project and stayed close to it.” Though common wisdom says it can sometimes be challenging to work closely with friends, Randle says she and Hayes both know how important their friendship is and that it is worth working on.

A seasoned producer, musician, and singer, Hayes may be best known for her songwriting, like “the song that bought my house,” as she remarked at Randle's gig in Berkeley — “Love Letter,” which was popularly sung by Bonnie Raitt.

Hayes is also a songwriting teacher, and though Randle usually writes songs first on guitar (“It was my first instrument, kind of like my first language”), Bonnie encouraged her to try different beats, such as starting from a rhythmic perspective. The liner notes of Sleep City give a song-by-song synopsis of each track's genesis, and Hayes' influence is duly noted, as are the contributions of the other musicians.

The musicians, including Julie Wolf and Barbara Higbie — both also participants on the recent Cris Williamson tour — are all excellent on Sleep City. And Randle's vocals are fabulous, especially on the tracks “I've Been Thinking” and “Next Big Thing.” The sound on the CD smoothly shifts in mood and style in the instrumentation, vocals and lyrics. Several tunes, such as the lovely “Back Into My Arms,” feature syncopation, resulting in a jazz-informed, upbeat folk style. My only wish would be for more than nine tracks, but then I'm greedy for great music.

Sleep City is full of stories — about loves lost, loves remembered, and difficult lives — with some social commentary thrown in. In the notes for “Carry On,” Randle says, “I come from the kind of family that virtually insured that I would become a songwriter. I needed to write about these things mostly to explain them to myself.” An avid reader of “Actual Books” (as Randle's website emphasizes), the song “Don't Let Me Fall” was inspired by James McBride's memoir, The Color of Water.

The title track, which is more funk than folk, addresses some of her political feelings in a tongue-in-cheek way. She wanted to use the words “sleep city,” which she saw on a marquee, as the title of her album since it would be an inside joke about her insomnia. Her friend Lynnly Labovitz, a photographer, came up with the cover concept immediately, which Randle explains as “Awake, in bed, with my guitar, honoring my first and enduring love, music.”

Speaking of love, Randle is currently single. “I haven't been able to date in a long time. In a way, it's protective of others,” she says, laughing. In fact, she's been intentionally staying celibate for more than a year. “It's for me to look at

what I bring into a relationship and if I even want one,” she explains. “We don't usually think in terms of how to share our lives with somebody long-term and whether or not we want to do that. I want everything I do to be intentional, as much as possible.”

Randle divides her time between Los Angeles, where The Tonight Show is taped, and the San Francisco Bay area. She runs and bikes, loves spending time with her two Siberian huskies, and rides a custom 1994 Harley-Davidson FXR motorcycle. She has been in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco Pride parades, riding with Dykes on Bikes. “The last time I rode in L.A. was when The L Word was filming. We were unpaid labor for them, lots of waving, etc.”

This December Randle will turn 52, and she wants to emphasize that life does not stop at 50. “When I was younger, I thought that getting things, having autonomy in the world, having material possessions, would make me free.” She used to joke that she wanted a chance to prove that money can't make her happy, and with her current steady gig at The Tonight Show, “I've proved it. Money can't make me happy, people can't make me happy.” But she concedes with a smile, “My dogs can make me happy.”

Now, Randle says, “being physically active is really important to me. Being spiritually aware, having a spiritual practice of some kind is important. Living life in service and love is very important.”

She has three more years with The Tonight Show and is planning another solo album. When first planning Sleep City, she had a wealth of material to choose from but needed to decide on a focus for the CD. “I spend a good portion of my professional life singing R&B, but when I'm writing, I think in terms of folk ballads. … I decided to restrict this record to my singer/songwriter life, rather than the percussive, jazz life.”

But that will be explored on her next solo outing. “I'd like to be able to move between the two styles, since I've done just as much jazz work, and scat singing is something I enjoy. I've written a lot of Brazilian-type tunes, percussion-heavy, so the next effort will include those.”

Until then, you can explore her folk tunes on Sleep City and witness her percussive and vocal stylings on The Tonight Show — and celebrate the longest-running gig of an out lesbian on television to date.

http://www.afterellen.com/archive/ellen/column/2006/11/outside2.html

OUTSIDE THE LINES: Where Are the Black Lesbian Roles?

by Linda Villarosa, November 9, 2006

Linda Villarosa is a former editor of The New York Times and executive editor for Essence magazine, and has authored and co-authored several books. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her two children and her partner, Jana.

Gabrielle Union is a lesbian, y'all. Sanaa Lathan is bi.

All right, already. Not in real life (that we know of), but both are now playing gay onscreen. In the movie Running With Scissors, which opened nationwide last weekend, Union stars as Dorothy Ambrose, the love interest of Deirdre Burroughs (Annette Bening), the over-the-top, Valium-popping mother of the film's main character. In the vibrant colors

of the '70s, Union looks ravishing during her very brief eight minutes on screen.

Lathan has a 12-episode run as Michelle Latham, Larry Hagman's much, much younger girlfriend, on FX's Nip/ Tuck. On Oct. 3, Jacqueline Bisset stroked Lathan's breast, just before the two engaged in a juicy lip lock.

Union doesn't tip the velvet in Scissors or kiss or even hug Bening. But when she drapes her silky brown arm lightly across the back of Bening's chair or softly rubs her back, it feels big. And Lathan and Bisset's vinegary dalliance is only one of several lesbian-themed story lines dreamed up by Nip/Tuck's gay creator, Ryan Murphy (who also directed Scissors).

But seeing Lathan kiss another woman feels very, very big.

Playing a lesbian shouldn't be a big deal for a straight actress anymore, for God's sake. As we know, nearly every actress on The L Word is straight, as is Jennifer Connelly, Catherine Deneuve, Salma Hayek, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman and Kate Winslet, as well as Bisset, Bening and other A-list actresses who have played bisexual or lesbian characters. A love scene with another woman is no risk anymore; in fact, it can enhance a Hollywood career, demonstrating award-bait edge. Look at Oscar winners Hilary Swank and Charlize Theron.

But maybe not for black actresses. Rarely have black women played gay. You can count the number on the fingers of one hand. There was Queen Latifah in Set It Off. (Hush up — I know what you're thinking!) Jennifer Beals, of course. Nicole Ari Parker (Soul Food, Remember the Titans) early in her career in The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love. Whoopi Goldberg's controversial onscreen kiss two decades ago in The Color Purple and 10 years later in Boys on the Side. Kerry Washington (Ray, The Last King of Scotland) and Nia Long desperately seeking sperm in She Hate Me and The Broken Hearts Club, respectively.

The saucy girl next door of black film, Long has starred in hits like Big Momma's House, The Best Man and Are We There Yet? But her career-turning role in 2000's mainstream movie Boiler Room has been largely forgotten. She most recently appeared in Alfie with Jude Law and Susan Sarandon, receiving limited screen time and forced to wear an unbearably hideous afro wig.

So are Union and Lathan destroying their images by being lesbians onscreen? Hell no. In fact, it might help both of their careers, which have fallen far short of the enormous potential of each of these actresses.

Both are members of Hollywood's African-American elite, an extremely small sorority of successful young actresses. These are the women who are on the covers of Essence and Ebony, and have flashy lead roles in black movies. But after Oscar winner Halle Berry and nominee Latifah, the list starts to dwindle. And most have had few appearances in mainstream movies — starring or otherwise — the kinds of roles that can propel an actress into the Hollywood stratosphere.

Vivica A. Fox, who famously prompted Bill Clinton to ask “Who's the black girl?” when he saw her in Independence Day as Will Smith's hot, stripper girlfriend, has also had a rocky career. She starred in Set It Off, Two Can Play That Game, Booty Call and Juwanna Mann, but has struggled to cross over to the mainstream. Despite a star turn as a murderous mama in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1, most recently she was a contestant on ABC's Dancing With the Stars, a truly desperate career move — and she was eliminated, to boot.

Jada Pinkett Smith has starred in at least a dozen black movies, including Woo, Bamboozled, Kingdom Come and The Nutty Professor. Despite rave reviews in Collateral with Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise as well as the The Matrix and Ali, her most recent role has been the voice of an animated hippo in Madagascar. Power to her for keeping her schedule light to focus on her family — including two kids of her own, a stepson and hubby Will Smith, and her metal band, Wicked Wisdom — but come on!

Of the other talented, well-known young black actresses — Kimberley Elise, Regina King and Thandie Newton to name a few — not one has achieved the success she deserves. And even the black roles, generally as a male star's wife or girlfriend, are limited and shrinking. Many of the black female money roles have been snatched up by men. Think Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion and Big Momma's House. Black male actors are even grabbing roles from White Chicks.

So what of Lathan and Union? Lathan muscled her way into her first starring role in 2000's Love & Basketball, but has never lived up to the early promise. She has carried black movies like Brown Sugar, Disappearing Acts and, most recently, the disappointing interracial love story Something New. She starred opposite Denzel Washington in Out of Time in 2003 and made a splash onstage as Sean P.'s sister in Raisin in the Sun. But her mainstream resume is sketchy … unless you include the cheesy Alien vs. Predator.

Union, a beauty with killer dimples and a marquee smile, has lit up the screen in a series of “mean girl” roles beginning with Love & Basketball and Bring It On. She also starred in Two Can Play That Game, Deliver Us from Eva and 2005's failed black remake of The Honeymooners. Given her beauty, brains, talent and charisma, it's a shame she hasn't been able to make the mainstream leap.

Maybe these LGBT supporting roles will help both Union and Lathan and allow directors, casting agents and the public to appreciate their gifts and their edge. Maybe next time, these actresses will take on lead roles as lesbians. But of course, somebody's got to write those roles. (Yoo hoo, Angela Robinson.) And somebody's got to get those films made. (Hello, somebody!)

And maybe Union and Lathan will even get an onscreen smooch — with each other.

http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/rosegardenresident/20060427/cover1.shtml

April 27, 2006 Silicon Valley Community Newspapers

COVER STORY… "I HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS A GAY NEWSPAPER OR GAYS IN SAN JOSE…”

Photograph reproduced with permission of Ted Sahl Archives, Special Collections, San Jose State University

Early Gatherings: Volunteers who worked on refurbishing a storefront for the first Billy DeFrank Center at 86 Keyes St. celebrated the grand opening in 1981.

DeFrank center celebrates 25 years of service to the LGBT communityCenter's anniversary to be marked by galaBy Mary Gottschalk

In its quarter-century of existence, the Billy DeFrank Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center has evolved from near invisibility to high visibility, going from a tiny, two-room storefront location to a 10,000-square-foot, renovated building at 938 The Alameda.

The DeFrank grew out of a desire by members of the LGBT community for a place of their own.

"There weren't any places to meet and gather with large groups of people other than the bars," says Liz Burkhouse, one of the DeFrank founders.

In 1981, through word of mouth, more than 200 people showed up for the initial meeting at the Unitarian Church Hall in downtown San Jose. By evening's end, they had elected an interim board of directors and formed committees.

Equality was important from the first, Burkhouse says, so the initial board had an equal number of men and women.

The naming of the center was a fundraising affair, where names were suggested and voting was in the form of donations.

Billy DeFrank won.

DeFrank was the stage name of William Price, a female impersonator who was also a tireless ambassador and fundraiser for the gay community. He died in 1980 of an apparent heart attack following a performance and was nominated by his lover and friends.

The first locale for the DeFrank was at 86 Keyes St. in what had been a television repair store.

"The location on Keyes was a seedy storefront with a bar on one side and a used car lot on the other," Burkhouse recalls. "You were afraid to go in. The first time I visited, I had to go around the block three to five times because the neighborhood was creepy."

Once she overcame her fears, Burkhouse did park and go in.

"The thing I most remember is how home-like it felt. We tried to make it welcoming so when people came there, they could put off their feelings of being oppressed. When you walked through the door, it didn't matter. Everyone knew you were who you were, and it was like coming home," she says.

Initially the center operated a switchboard, a hotline and counseling services.

Additionally, Burkhouse says both she and the late Neil Christie worked to make sure "there was always a social component, not just workshops and STD testing, and later AIDS groups. It was more a place where you could come for a barbecue and meet people under natural circumstances."

Burkhouse believes relationships that begin away from a bar atmosphere are usually healthier. The DeFrank offered the first alternative to the bars that were the traditional gathering places for the gay community.

Prior to the establishment of the center, there were an estimated 27 bars in the South Bay friendly to gay or lesbian clientele. Today, there are around five.

In the beginning, the DeFrank was an all-volunteer operation.

Burkhouse was the first paid executive director, named in 1982. Still attending college, she stepped down from her position after six months but continued as an active volunteer for 18 years.

Today, the center continues to offer a switchboard, hotline, counseling and more, including some 30 support groups in seven areas of interest. There are women's, men's, sports, bisexual, transgender and youth groups, as well as general interest ones focusing on families, 20-somethings, Latinos and activities such as pageants.

Additionally, there are a variety of regular workshops, including ones in dance, yoga, stress management and home-buying.

Social activities also continue to be an important component, ranging from bingo to film nights to kayaking.

One of the most popular activities is the weekly vintage taste luncheon. Held on Wednesdays, the free lunches are open to anyone 50 and older. Each week around 40 attend.

Norman Costa, a longtime DeFrank member and volunteer, is one of the regulars.

"I go for the company," Costa says. "It keeps me in touch with friends I might not normally see on a weekly basis. I know I'll see them on Wednesdays."

Costa, who was volunteer of the year in 2000, had to stop volunteering after lung surgery.

He laments the fact the center's hours have changed, so it doesn't open until 3 p.m. on weekdays, except for Wednesdays.

On the other hand, Costa is pleased at the growth of different groups and activities at the center.

"It's a place to get together to do things of mutual interest," he says. "It's a safe place to be, not like being in a bar drinking."

The DeFrank now has a staff of five full-time employees, two part-time and volunteers who serve around 400 people each week. Each year they serve more than 21,000 different people.

From its original location on Keyes, the DeFrank moved to Park Avenue, where it was located from 1985 to 1990 before moving to Stockton Avenue.

City Councilman Ken Yeager, an active member of the DeFrank since it was on Keyes, describes the moves and growth as an evolution.

"I think each time the DeFrank has moved and found a new home, it's been a whole new era," Yeager says. "When it was on Keyes, it was all very secretive. The era now is one of integration and a center where straight people can feel comfortable going. It is a neighborhood center, as well as a gay and lesbian center."

Ted Sahl has watched the evolution of the DeFrank from its inception.

A freelance photojournalist who focuses on three areas--"freedom of choice, social justice and no war," Sahl says his involvement with the local gay and lesbian community came about "through a combination of curiosity and accident."

Already covering the anti-nuclear protest movement, Sahl decided to attend a gay pride rally in St. James Park in 1978.

Sahl, who describes himself as "very straight," admits he was somewhat nervous and unsure of his reception.

It was more cordial than he expected, and Sahl found himself empathetic toward the community.

"I had no idea there was a gay newspaper or gays in San Jose. They were in the closet, poor souls," he says.

"As a Jew from Boston, Mass., I know about discrimination.

"When I first got in touch with the gay community, I recognized a deep sense of richness of the human spirit. That, in my mind, had to be supported, so I went into it."

Sahl photographed events, demonstrations and get-togethers for local gay newspapers.

Sensitive to privacy issues, Sahl asked before he shot and found over time more people willing to be photographed than ones shying away from his lens.

The result was a front-row seat at the evolution of the gay community in the South Bay, including all the phases of the DeFrank Center.

Sahl was accepted by the community, which inducted him into the Santa Clara County Gay Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1997, Sahl was honored as the first straight president of the Gay Pride Celebration Committee. Sahl used his definitive photographs and insight in his book From Closet to Community: A Quest for Gay & Lesbian Liberation in San Jose & Santa Clara County, published in 2002. He's now at work on a sequel he's titled Out in the Community: The Second Generation.

Also in 2002, Sahl donated his archives to San Jose State University's Special Collections.

Sahl's work served as one of the resources former interim director Clark Williams is using for a DeFrank history presentation at the DeFrank's 25th anniversary gala April 29.

"It's been fascinating," Williams says of his research. "There's a need to pass our history on to another generation, to keep it going."

Williams, who served an interim director of the DeFrank for four months until the appointment of Aejaie Sellers in late February, has been contacting past directors and board members.

One of the most striking changes Williams says he's found in the past 25 years is in the area of communications.

"For the first 15 years of the organization, the DeFrank produced a newsletter providing news and information to the LGBT community that was oftentimes the only way many gays and lesbians knew there was a large community here. Now we take the Internet for granted," Williams says.

As the DeFrank looks toward the next quarter-century, new executive director Sellers says she sees "a tremendous amount of potential."

She'd like to see the center take a stronger leadership and advocacy role in the community at large.

"As we do that and move into that role, we become more joined with the San Jose community as a whole and understand that to be a player at the table, we have to be full participants at the table," Sellers says.

"The LGBT community along with the DeFrank Center have plenty of energy, ideas and support to be a major player at that table in this community."

|| BEST OF THE WEB 2006 ||

Dude worship on YouTube

Images of puffed-up bodybuilders made popular in 1950s publications are alive and well as videos on the Internet. Only now they’re creating a new connection between gay and straight men.

By Jason Rowan From The Advocate October 24, 2006

Somewhere in America, a fit, tan, hairless 19-year-old straight boy who goes by the online name “Weatiez”

demonstrates calisthenics while standing in his bedroom with a poster of a hot blond topless chick on the wall

behind him. He’s the kind of guy I’d furtively steal glances at in my high school locker room, afraid of getting beat

up if I stared too long.

In most of Weatiez’s videos, an aggressive rap song plays as he faces the camera then starts flexing his biceps and

bouncing around, staring at me with an unsettling mixture of hostility and desire. His appealing, slightly disturbing

performance of bodybuilder and rapper poses is one of several Weatiez has posted on YouTube.com, an online video

clearinghouse where as many as 43,000 viewers—mostly male—have watched his impromptu shenanigans since he

started broadcasting them in April.

Weatiez is far from alone. For whatever reason, young guys who list themselves as straight have decided to display

their chiseled physiques on YouTube. They’re building a very large gay male fan base while creating a new forum for

the ever-changing dialogue between gay and straight men.

As recently as a year ago, this kind of dynamic for exhibitionism and voyeurism was unheard-of. But YouTube changed

all that. After the now-famous Saturday Night Live clip “Lazy Sunday” appeared on the site last December (in which an

unknown male duo did a gangsta-rap parody about “the chronic—what!—cles of Narnia”), the site skyrocketed in

popularity, and soon people of all ages and persuasions started posting videos of themselves. When I contacted

YouTube for this story, their representative declined, citing an “unbelievable amount of interest” in the company.

I discover Weatiez while surfing YouTube and come across a video in which he stands in what looks like a basement,

his brown skin contrasting against the white wall behind him. A bare fluorescent bulb is affixed to the ceiling. Wearing a

white T-shirt, Weatiez suddenly rips it off his body, WWE style.

Altogether, Weatiez’s videos offer a surprisingly intimate glimpse of the kind of rough-and-tumble jock many gay men,

myself included, obsessed over in high school. And judging from the comments posted on this young man’s YouTube

profile, many gay men still hold that adolescent fixation. “A ha cool video,” writes “noffin1” about another Weatiez

bedroom creation. “Nice with the hat flying onto the head…a bit risky having the pants so low they are almost showing

the good stuff.”

The fact that gay men are ogling his hot bod doesn’t concern Weatiez. “Yeah, I’m aware of it, but it does not bother

me,” he says via e-mail. “I’m comfortable with that because I know working out will give me a great body, and I know

that will get attention, both female and male.”

Weatiez is not the only young straight man posting such personal videos of himself on YouTube to the immense

gratitude of gay men everywhere. Shane Jessuran, who goes by “Shanejj” on YouTube, is a 19-year-old originally from

Suriname in South America who is now living in St. Petersburg, Fla. With a chest the size of a beer keg, he recently

started posting videos of himself on YouTube, charting his progress as he pumps iron. About half the comments

posted on his videos are from bodybuilders giving him encouragement; the other half are men telling him how sexy he

is. He flexes provocatively in his dark bedroom wearing only a pair of gray Polo boxer briefs that he constantly adjusts,

running his hands over his obliques.

Shanejj says he doesn’t care that more than half his viewers are gay men. “It doesn’t really matter to me—I’m actually

intrigued that gay guys respond to it,” he says. “It’s on my profile that I’m straight, and if guys ask if I would go that way,

I just say, ‘No, but thanks for thinking of me.’ ” It’s just about the attention, he explains. “Most of the guys posting aren’t

average guys—they’re into their appearance, their clothes, their grooming. They shave; I shave. It’s more a

metrosexual thing, and in that way I think we have something in common with gay guys. So when I get attention from

them, I like it. It confirms that I’m doing it right.”

One such online admirer is Tommy, 23, a recent college graduate and bartender in Miami who goes by the name

“Hotjokstud.” “These straight guys love the attention—they really do,” he says. “I’m constantly posting flirty comments,

praising them for their bodies and telling them they should show more—and sometimes they do.” All it took was his

suggestion to “FuSoYa999,” a youthful

20-year-old flexer from northwest Georgia, that he should pose in a Speedo, and a video of him in said attire was up

three days later. The comments were euphoric. “Men are dogs,” Tommy says with a laugh. “Gay or straight, they all

love getting their egos stroked, and it’s fun to see how far you can go with them.”

Another fan, Matt, a 30-year-old retail worker from Durham, N.C., maintains a blog called DudeTube where he

regularly posts videos of hot straight guys. “Guys showing off has always been a part of gym culture,” he says. “The

Internet just provides a way to do it anonymously—or not so anonymously—and get some feedback. It’s a way for

straight guys to put themselves out there safely and to get attention without many repercussions.”

Matt has come to know some of these guys in the course of posting their videos on his site, and he says they’re “so

friendly about it. When I post stuff of theirs, it’s not ‘Hey, fag, stop looking at my ass,’ but it’s like, ‘Thanks, I’m straight

but that’s cool.’ They’re really, really nice about it.”

Of course, male-on-male voyeurism is hardly novel. It’s just that YouTube has provided a new venue for it. “It’s nothing

new for straight guys to get attention from gay guys—or other straight guys,” says Cyd Zeigler Jr., cofounder of

Outsports.com, where many a picture of hot, straight athletes can be found. “Athletes in our culture are put on a

pedestal and they like that: being worshiped. And one of the things they’re worshiped for is their physique. When they

get that praise from other men, it just massages their egos more.”

But even in the vaporous, amorphous world of the Internet, maybe that worship can go too far. Weatiez stopped

responding to my e-mails soon after I contacted him. He was the first self-made flexing star I approached for this piece,

and while I have no way of really knowing what happened, I can only assume that our communication must have

crossed that invisible variable line between “flattering” and “threatening.” My questions must have been too much for

his straight-jock comfort zone.

As much as the Internet can bridge the divide between a gay man in New York City and an anonymous straight stud in

suburban America, it can also be a harsh reminder of how much space still exists between us. At the end of the day,

you’re still sitting alone in your bedroom, lusting after the same boys who were so unavailable as a teenager. That

disinterested roughneck is still out of reach.

If I creeped you out, Weatiez, I’m really sorry.

(Feuds on the set of TV Ratings Winner: Grey’s Anatomy)

January 17, 2007

Grey's Anatomy star jokes about being gay on Golden Globes red carpet

Grey's Anatomy star Isaiah Washington, accompanied by his wife, shared a secret on the Golden Globes red carpet. "I love gay. I wanted to be gay," he said. "Please let me be gay."

In October, Washington apologized for an on-set incident involving costars Patrick Dempsey and T.R. Knight during which Washington allegedly used a homophobic slur. Knight said last year he is gay. (Sandy Cohen, AP)

January 18, 2007

Grey's Anatomy actor upset with Washington's comments

Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl was not pleased with fellow cast mate Isaiah Washington's comments following Monday's Golden Globe Awards. During an interview in the press room after the show's best drama win, Washington

denied his involvement in a heated on-set incident in October during which he allegedly used a homophobic slur.

''No, I did not call [costar] T.R. [Knight] a faggot,'' Washington said. ''Never happened; never happened.'' Rather than soothing the situation, his comments left Heigl seething.

''I'm going to be really honest right now: He needs to just not speak in public. Period,'' Heigl told Access Hollywood at a Golden Globe after party. ''I'm sorry, that did not need to be said. I'm not OK with it.''

She called the comments ''hurtful,'' characterizing the incident as one that should be handled privately among the show's cast and crew. ''I don't think [Washington] means it the way he comes off,'' Heigl said. ''But T.R. is my best friend.... I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings.''

Knight, who said soon after the October fracas that he is gay, appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday to discuss the original incident and Washington's recent comments. ''He referred to me as a 'faggot.' Everyone heard it,'' Knight said of the October squabble.

Comments from Heigl and Washington were set to air Tuesday on Access Hollywood. A call placed after hours Tuesday to Washington's representative was not returned. (AP)

From: GLAAD Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defammation

NATIONAL NEWS

Congressman Works To Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"Democratic Representative Marty Meehan from Massachusetts said he will attempt to reintroduce legislation to

repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in response to former Joint Chiefs Chairman John Shalikashvili's New York Times op-

ed supporting gays serving openly in the U.S. Military. In a statement released Tuesday Meehan said, "There is no place in this country for discrimination, be it on the basis of race, creed or sexual orientation, and there is certainly no place for institutional discrimination codified in federal statute."

Meehan introduced a similar bill in 2005, which attracted 120 co-sponsors, including Republican Chris Shays of

Connecticut. It is unclear how much support Meehan will have in Congress. Probable '08 presidential contender,

John McCain, recently called the policy "very effective." John Hutson, a retired two-star Navy admiral, said Tuesday

he thinks allowing gays to serve openly in the military would strengthen rather than weaken the cohesion of fighting

units. "I think it will absolutely happen, but probably not during the Bush administration."

Army Gen.: "Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy" Out

January 2, 2007

Megan Shannon - All Headline News Staff Writer

(AHN) - An influential Army general has changed his mind on the "don't ask, don't tell" policy dealing with gays in the military. This is predicted to have a big impact on congress this year.

John Shalikashvili, who was Joint Chiefs chairman at the time the policy was adopted, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that he believes gays should be able to be open about their sexuality while serving in the military.

Gay and lesbian soldiers were asked to keep quiet about their sexual orientation while serving their country. Many soldiers were dismissed after violating the policy.

Shalikashvili said his change of heart occurred after speaking with several gay soldiers.

He wrote in the editorial, "These conversations showed me just how much the military has changed, and that gays and lesbians can be accepted by their peers."

While some republicans still support the policy, democrats are standing behind the former general saying discrimination does not belong in the military, especially at a time when the nation is fighting two wars.

In a statement, Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Massachusetts, said, "There is no place in this country for discrimination, be it on the basis of race, creed or sexual orientation, and there is certainly no place for institutional discrimination codified in federal statute."

NFL Fines Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker for Using Anti-Gay SlurThe National Football League has fined Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Joey Porter $10,000 for using an anti-gay slur to

describe Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow, Jr., following a game between the two teams earlier this month.

Cameras captured Porter's use of the word 'fag' in an interview after a Dec. 7 game. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist

Ron Cook and other commentators and community activists had called on Porter to apologize. The linebacker did

eventually apologize but added that he did not 'mean to offend anybody but Kellen Winslow.'

Courts in Two States Uphold Lesbian Parents' Custody RightsCourts in both Pennsylvania and Virginia have issued rulings in recent days that have upheld the parental rights of

lesbian parents.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a landmark lower court ruling on Nov. 29 that non-biological, non-adoptive

same-sex parents have the right to primary custody of their children in the Commonwealth. The court affirmed Patricia

Jones' custody of twin boys that she and her former partner of 14 years, Ellen Boring, had raised after it found that it

was in their best interest to remain with Jones.

A Virginia appeals court issued a similar decision on Nov. 28 that upheld a Vermont Supreme Court ruling that

awarded a lesbian woman joint custody of a child that she raised with her former partner before they separated.

Gay Media Is Back http://www.thegully.com/essays/gay_mundo2/wilke/050524_gay_ads_boom.htmlQueer press surges past mainstream. By Michael Wilke

MAY 24, 2005. Gay media is back and better than ever. Advertising revenues rebounded in 2004, with gay magazines, newspapers and web sites outdistancing the growth of general media with major increases in sales.

PlanetOut, the parent company of both Gay.com and PlanetOut.com, had its biggest advertising year yet, generating total ad revenues of $6.54 million, a whopping 41.3 percent increase from $4.63 million in 2003.

By comparison, the overall online ad industry also surged 33 percent in 2004, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau, while advertising in all media rose more modestly to 6.3 percent, according to the Myers Report.

Mark Elderkin, co-founder of Gay.com and president of PlanetOut, says 2004 was "an amazing year with strong advertising growth for our business."

PlanetOut's next largest competitor, HIM Media, with sites including Gaywired.com and Lesbianation.com, also enjoyed a 25 percent increase in revenues reaching $500,000 last year, according to HIM president Matt Skallerud. (PlanetOut and HIM properties both carry Commercial Closet's column.)

Similarly, the decade old Gay Market Press Report, produced annually by gay newspaper representation firm Rivendell Media and ad agency Prime Access Inc., found that ad spending in gay and lesbian publications reached $207 million for the year, an increase of 28.4 percent over 2003. That compares to a similar 26.7 percent lift in newspapers overall, according to the Newspaper Association of America, and 11.1 percent growth in magazines, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

Like the general market, most of the growth in gay print was experienced by local publications instead of national ones, the Gay Market Press report says. Local gay newspapers, for instance, experienced a 53.9 percent increase in ad revenues, while national gay magazines generally saw just a 2.5 percent increase.

Nonetheless, things were rosier for OUT magazine than the rest in its class, according to Joe Landry, publisher of LPI Media's OUT and The Advocate, which are included in the Gay Press Report. Landry says OUT was up 26 percent in

ad pages, and Advocate up 7 percent, as measured by TNS/PIB. "We saw overwhelming ad growth. It was incredible," he says about OUT.

New advertisers continue to seek out the gay market, including Advantage flea control from Bayer, and Atkins, Casio, Dell, Eastman Kodak, Eclipse gum from Wrigley, Edge shave gel from S.C. Johnson, Intel, L'Oreal for Vive shampoo and Men's Expert skin care. Other advertisers include Oral B tooth brushes from Braun-Philips, Panasonic, Pepsi Cola Co., Scion from Toyota, Sony, Starbucks, and Westin and Wyndham hotels.

Previously, LGBT print media suffered three consecutive years of revenue declines, diminishing the enthusiasm of the Gay Press Report's publishers for making efforts to publicize the data. (The report tracks ads only from April editions of 139 North American gay publications and projects the data for the year — an approach criticized by some.)

Major growth categories in the 2004 Gay Press Report included health/fitness/grooming, with a 87.2 percent increase, and alcoholic beverages, up 76.5 percent.

The report also found that customized ads for gay readers experienced a dramatic increase, surging 242 percent from major corporations such as Delta, IBM, L'Oreal, Orbitz, Wyndham and others. Interestingly, national publications received only a 3 percent share of the increase, with the rest going to local publications.

LPI's Landry predicts gay creative ads will rise, but cautions they are not a panacea for success. "If they're done well, they're terrific," he says. "If not, they're like any other ad."

By contrast, PlanetOut's Elderkin projects little increases in customized ads, though banner ads are a different breed than print. "The development of unique gay creative is not necessarily the right approach. The overall quality of a campaign's creative execution and its alignment with the brand's general market messaging most often has the

greatest impact."

Following the burst of the Internet bubble, as companies moved away from online advertising, PlanetOut strengthened its non-advertising revenue sources. Advertising still accounts for only 26 percent of PlanetOut's total 2004 revenue, while 65 percent comes from personal ad fees, and 10 percent from retail sales of items like trendy underwear and DVDs. Gay.com and PlanetOut have more than 3.4 million combined active American members, 127,500 of whom are paid users, the company's financial statement said.

Elderkin believes the anticipated June launch of LOGO, media giant Viacom's gay cable network, will increase awareness of the LGBT community among advertisers and bring the community even more into the mainstream.

"It will help show people that being gay is something not to be afraid of," he says. Elderkin also anticipates companies will allocate bigger budgets to gay advertising overall, because of the higher costs to advertise on television.

LOGO's arrival will certainly have a significant impact on gay media sales, bringing greater attention to the market, and confidence to advertisers who already work with Viacom on other networks. LOGO so far has announced founding sponsors Paramount (in the Viacom family), Subaru, and Orbitz, but will no doubt attract more in the coming year as advertisers sort through their growing variety of choices.

Reporting by Eric Noll. The Commercial Closet — bringing lesbian, gay, bi and trans sensitivity to corporate advertising.

GAY PRESS REPORTS:

Complete Coverage

Gay MundoUS Politics Related Articles

Cosmetic Companies Compete for Gay ShelvesDiet Pepsi, Subway Go Gay at Super BowlSame-Sex Marriage Ads Dominated 2004T-Mobile's Call Includes Gay CouplesDemocrats Target Gay VotersGay Radio and Subaru Get Sirius On SatellitePepsi Marches Into Gay PrideResearch Booms on Same-Sex CouplesCheney For Gay Marriage?Wyndham and W Hotels Bed GaysJapanese Join Gay FrayIBM: Beyond Gay VagueGay Dads FashionableA Blackened Eye for Queer Guys

2005 http://www.rivendellmedia.com/documents/gaypressreport2005.pdf2002 http://www.primeaccess.net/Press/2002GayPressReport.pdf

Gay & Lesbian Television:

http://www.logoonline.com/

What is Logo?

Logo is the newest channel from MTV Networks, the force behind channels like VH1, MTV, TV Land and SpikeTV.

Logo is entertainment programming for lesbians and gays and just about anyone who enjoys a gay point of view. Logo

is for us, our friends and our family. Logo is originals. Logo is movies. Logo is documentaries. Logo is news. Logo is

specials. Logo is the channel for Gay America. Finally.

Why did you choose the name "Logo"?

We chose to name the channel "Logo" because as the first and only 24/7 channel for the LGBT community, we wanted

a name that people could make their own and give it personal meaning. For us, the word "Logo" is about identity, about

being comfortable in your own skin. It's about being who you are.

How can I advertise on Logo?

To advertise on Logo or Logoonline.com, or for more information regarding ad sales, please contact us by completing this form and selecting "Ad Sales."

How can I get a job at Logo?

Careers:All Logo job openings are posted on the MTVNetworks Job Huntsite. If you see something that interests you, follow the instructions on how to apply.

Internships:MTV Networks Internship Programs in New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA has internships in various departments at LOGO including, Creative, Press, Production, Programming and Marketing.

http://www.logoonline.com/about/

Why does Logo edit its programming?

Our first priority is to entertain our viewers. Therefore, we do our best to edit our programming as little as possible while

still maintaining an appropriate level of content standards for a sponsor-friendly cable channel. Logo's programming is

edited to the same degree as other MTV Networks channels geared towards adult audiences, such as Spike TV or

Comedy Central.

How can I pitch a show idea to Logo?Unfortunately, we have been forced to adopt a policy, which we consistently apply, to return all unsolicited submissions

without reading them or considering their merit. This policy, which most other companies in the entertainment industry

also follow, is essential to avoid misunderstandings that might otherwise arise because of the nature of the industry. So

many ideas and concepts are developed by writers and producers that the only prudent way to avoid conflicts

regarding possible similarities is to strictly adhere to a policy of not accepting unsolicited submissions.

Our practice is to review only those materials which are submitted through franchised agents. If you currently have, or

in the future, secure such an agent, we will be happy to receive your material through the agent.

Logo and CBS News join up to bring you exclusive

news throughout the week. Hosted by Jason Bellini.

http://www.logoonline.com/news/archive.jhtml?contentTypeID=1089

SHOWTIME Channel: THE L WORD

http://www.sho.com/site/lword/home.do

ADVERTISING ON GAY RELATED WEBSITES:

magazine about the nature of his

Last fall a Catholic priest invited me to my very first same-sex wedding. I was thrilled. The wedding was between an Episcopal deacon and his long-term boyfriend. The rites were Christian with the priest presiding. Sound unorthodox? What if I told you the priest was

These are just samples of the gay-related headlines that piqued national interest in 2006. None would have seen the light of day in the mainstream media had they not been either broken or nudged along by a group of increasingly influential gay bloggers who are changing the way we get our news about the famous

and other mainstream news organizations as well as “about 100 blogs” to see what might be of interest to the readers of TowleRoad, his well-

] into the public

On the opposite side of the country—and taking the opposite approach—is a flamboyant 28-year-old blogger known as Perez Hilton. The self-described “queen of all media” can be found at a table at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Sunset Boulevard near West Hollywood, Calif., constantly looking for dish to post with

Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is on a roll. The day it was learned that Britney Spears was divorcing Kevin Federline, PerezHilton.com received more than 2.3 million visits. But it was his aggressive postings about Bass and Harris that many believe led to both men publicly coming out. In May, Hilton published photos of Bass and Lehmkuhl wearing each other’s clothes. On November 2, when a former publicist of Harris’s denied to a Canadian publication that the actor is gay, an irate Hilton went into overdrive, asking readers to post about their experiences with the actor; the next day he asked them to share any

is not part of my vocabulary. I don’t out anybody. I report on the private lives of public figures,” Hilton insists. “We’ve had three [performers come out] this year and not a single one of note in 2005, and that speaks volumes. I’m not going to take credit for it, even though people are trying to say, ‘Oh, it’s

“It was huge for our traffic,” says Abramovitch. “Sites like ours are setting a quicker velocity for the rest of the media just because of the nature of it, the way we’re throwing stuff up. We’re not waiting for a team of lawyers to tell us to do it; we’re just doing it. At the same time we’re saying, ‘Take this for what it’s worth.’

“Trying to actively out someone goes against what Defamer is,” Abramovitch says. “But if there’s something funny out there like [Reichen] turning his boyfriend into a word, then we’re going to jump on that and maximize that and use whatever else is already out there. Are we supportive of people coming out of their

profile, “If I had not been talking about Lance Bass as much as I was before he came out, there is no way he would have gotten the cover.” He also touts the bloggers’ ability to generate enough interest in these topics to make

assistant managing editor Jess Cagle, himself a gay man. “Someone printing rumors or speculation is not the same as breaking a story. But any time we hear anything, yeah, we go check it out. The blogs are another voice that everybody hears.

Towle, who reported on his blog last summer that he had seen and spoken to Bass and Lehmkuhl together in Provincetown, Mass., says he is not in favor of aggressively outing celebrities for sport but adds, “I’m all for outing legislators and figures in government who are promoting antigay agendas and living their lives in a way that is extremely hypocritical.” He believes it’s up to the blogs to get the ball rolling. “I think mainstream media are too afraid,” Towle says. “They’re big corporations, and they have much more at stake than blogs and independent publishers. It’s interesting that blogs have become the stepping-stone for certain

Hilton insists that he holds himself “to a higher journalistic standard than a lot of the celebrity weeklies in this country. [Other] people will flat-out print lies. I’ve worked too hard over two years to develop a pool of reliable sources and nurture and gain the respect of mainstream media to self-sabotage that by lying to my

Still, there are signs that the guerrilla tactics that have made blogs so popular are starting to have a backlash. Photo rights, for instance, have become a sticky issue. Bloggers have been able to garner huge hits by posting a photo that the legal departments of established news sources and even tabloids would have to

With the ball now in the GOP’s court, thanks to Florida Republican Mark Foley’