November 28, 2007
AIDS still hits gay community hard
Is the AIDS crisis over? As yet another World AIDS Day is marked Dec. 1, the answer, looking at the numbers in Chicago, in the nation and abroad, is a resounding “No.” In its report earlier this month, UNAIDS revised its...Full Story
World AIDS Day to be marked by events around Chicago
Organizations across Chicago commemorate World AIDS Day with ceremonies, marches, vigils, free testing and other events Dec. 1. The Chicago Department of Public Health hosts a World AIDS Day reception... Full Story
Opinion
Regular readers of this column know that one of my goals in writing is to promote gay community social development. One way to do this is by encouraging the formation of small groups of gays and... Full Story
AIDS is still a crisis. This is true even though last week the global number of AIDS cases fell by more than 6 million. United Nations officials said this was mainly due to revised numbers in India, but... Full Story
Nation Report
Granholm orders trans protections
LANSING, Mich.—Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has issued an order that bars discrimination against state workers based on their “gender identity or expression,” which protects the... Full Story
TOLEDO, Ohio—A new city ordinance in Toledo allows gay or other unmarried couples to register their domestic partnerships. The ordinance, passed by the Toledo City Council earlier this month, was signed into law... Full Story
Vallejo elects Bay Area’s first gay mayor
VALLEJO, Calif.—A 45-year-old city councilman is set to become the San Francisco Bay area’s first openly gay mayor after he was declared the winner by only four votes on the same day he apologized for his arrest for public drunkenness... Full Story
Presbyterians vote for gay marriage
BALTIMORE—Members of a Presbyterian denomination in Baltimore are asking the national organization to redefine marriage to permit same-sex couples. The vote in favor of the change was 76-71. The Baltimore Presbytery includes... Full Story
GLBT job rights ordinance passes
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Scottsdale’s Personnel Board has voted unanimously to recommend the city protect gays and transgender people from discrimination in City Hall... Full Story
New York men sentenced for death
NEW YORK—Three men convicted of beating a gay man and then chasing him onto a highway where he was struck by a car and killed were sentenced to prison Nov. 20, prosecutors said. All three had been part of what prosecutors... Full Story
San Fran Chamber endorses marriage
SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce endorsed same-sex marriage last week, saying it would improve the city’s business climate. More than 40 briefs were filed with the California Supreme Court supporting legalizing... Full Story
Freestyle: arts, entertainment & lifestyle
Mind’s journey: Travel with all the comforts of home home
Now boarding…for domestic flights to New York City, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta. Now boarding…for international flights to Israel, Cuba, Iceland, Senegal, Jamaica, South Africa, Jamaica, Cameroon, Brazil, Finland... Full Story
“Margot at the Wedding” (Paramount Vantage)—The bleakest of black comedies, Noah Bumbach’s “Margot at the Wedding” is reminiscent of Woody Allen family dramas, especially in the way families and relationships are depicted in the most unflattering light... Full Story
Clay Aiken is at the Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St. in Waukegan, at 7:30 p.m. Call (847) 263-6300. More
Home
If you’re thinking of renovating a bathroom and money is tight, keep this in mind: It’s one of the most lucrative makeover projects around. According to information reported by Crane’s Chicago Business, a new bathroom brings... Full Story
Dining
Irish is the new Latin. At least it would seem that way judging by dining establishments in Chicago. A decade ago, a spate of restaurants opened featuring Latin or Latin-fusion cuisine. Now we’re seeing more places featuring... Full Story
More News
Well, here’s one of those “why-didn’t-I-think-of-this” moments: Agis, an insurance company in The Netherlands, is offering health insurance policies tailored to the needs of GLBTs... Full Story
New film recalls 2004 San Francisco marriages
On Feb. 8, 2004, San Francisco-based filmmaker Geoff Callan was eating breakfast with his brother-in-law, Gavin Newsom, who’d been mayor of San Francisco for about a month... Full Story
RIVERDALE, Georgia—Four years after she won a Riverdale City Council seat, making her what is believed to be the state of Georgia’s first transgender elected politician... Full Story
Hate crimes incidents on the rise
WASHINGTON—Hate crime incidents rose nearly 8 percent last year, the FBI reported, as civil rights advocates increasingly take to the streets to protest what they call official indifference to... Full Story
Condoms in prisons still controversial despite AIDS spread
NEW YORK—To activists concerned about AIDS and prisoners’ rights, it’s an urgent, commonsense step that should already be nationwide policy—letting inmates have condoms to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted disease... Full Story
Obit
Laverne Hofbauer, born April 29, 1935, of Chicago, formerly of San Francisco, passed away Nov. 19. Laverne was an active member of Chicago 35 and The Saints and an avid and talented dancer and sailor... Full Story
Editorial
AIDS. It’s stunning, really, that so many years into this epidemic—a medical condition caused by a virus—that there’s still a stigma attached to AIDS that keeps us from talking openly and honestly about it and prevents... Full Story
On Nov. 7 the U.S. House of Representatives passed ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would amend existing workplace discrimination laws to include sexual orientation. Our vote... Full Story
Freetime
Midlife Crisis No. 190: Bicycle Love
I’ve just read on news.bbc.co.uk about a fetishist named Robert Stewart, 51, who’s been arrested in Ayr, Scotland, for “sexually aggravated breach of the peace by conducting himself in a disorderly manner and simulating sex... Full Story
Back in the day: Moments in Chicago's GLBT histor
On This Day in 1976: Man’s Country at 5015 N. Clark St. is visited by several uniformed police officers, leading to rumors that the bath house was raided. Apparently, it was just a routine check-up following a city building inspector’s inspection of the snack bar... Full Story
“Sicko” (Lionsgate/Weinstein Company)—Oscar-winning documentary-maker Michael Moore has a flair for the obvious. In “Fahrenheit 911,” he presented his compelling case and simply confirmed what everyone was thinking on a range of subjects regarding... Full Story
As we travel our spiritual journey through this current life cycle we are guided by gurus and other inspirational teachers in “The Four Steps to Enlightenment”—1) Meditation and Yoga; 2) Out of body astral traveling; 3) The purchasing of an Enya... Full Story
Dance Vibes: For your information
When it comes to 1980s electronic dance music, one might say that the decade technically began with Duran Duran and ended with Information Society. To their credit, both bands made significant first impressions with their debut albums. Duran Duran... Full Story
Theater
It’s Only the End of the World
The AIDS pandemic has obviously taken its toll on the ranks of artists everywhere—but not that you could tell from “It’s Only the End of the World,” the brainchild of HIV-positive playwright Jean-Luc Lagarce, who died in 1995 just as... Full Story
No sacred story is safe from the House Theatre, not “Peter Pan,” “The Wizard of Oz,” even “The Hardy Boys.” In the truest spirit of the season, “The Nutcracker,” the ensemble’s latest thinking travesty, turns the sugar-spun story behind Tchaikovsky’s... Full Story
With their exuberant production of Philip Barry’s golden chestnut “The Philadelphia Story,” Remy Bumppo provides a wonderful theatrical alternative for the holiday season. This spirited presentation contains all the affirmative joy and sprite... Full Story
Earlier in 2007, Hebraic hip-hop artist SoCalled released a disc on which he included samples of Theodore Bikel. Some may be asking, Theodore who?
Any theater queen worth his weight in Tony statuettes knows that Bikel received a Tony... Full Story