A Gay Dream Come True

Every young performer imagines his or her acceptance speech at the Oscars, Grammys, or Tonys, but young gay performers often add an addtional dream to the mix. Young gay boys will dream of thanking his boyfriend or husband, young lesbians imagine a wife to gush about while grabbing the statuette.

Tonight Melissa Etheridge - honest, courageous, groundbreaking, trailblazing, rocking Melissa Etheridge - won an Oscar for her song from An Inconvenient Truth. Among her first words were 'I have to thank my incredible wife Tammy and our four children."

Not that it's really any surprise to hear Ms. 'Yes I Am' Herself say it, but it's rewarding to hear such an acceptance speech for a major award in prime time so matter-of-factly.

The legacy stops here. Go Melissa!

Gay Rights Pioneer Barbara Gittings Dead at 75

Thank you, Barbara, for all that you did.

Gay Rights Pioneer Barbara Gittings Dead at 75

Famous for Protests at Independence Hall, Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gay rights pioneer Barbara Gittings has died at the age of 75 from a lengthy and brave battle with breast cancer, Philadelphia Gay News publisher and friend Mark Segal announced today.

Gittings first came to the public spotlight in 1965 when she and a handful of gay men and lesbians held demonstrations outside the White House and Independence Hall seeking equal rights for homosexuals. These were the first such demonstrations in American history and began an era of gays coming out of the closet. Gittings' involvement in the gay rights movement started in the late 1950s when she helped organize the New York City chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis (D.O.B.). It was there she met her life partner Kay Lahausen, who has been by her side for 46 years.

Gittings other accomplishments include head of the American Library Association's Gay Task Force. In 2003 The American Library Association presented Gittings with it's highest honor, a lifetime membership. She was an active cornerstone in the campaign that led to the American Psychiatric Association dropping its categorization of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973.

Gittings was an early community journalist. She edited the D.O.B. publication "The Ladder" from 1963-66 and worked with Lahausen on her 1973 book "The Gay Crusaders."

On July 2, 2005 Barbara and Kay Attended the unveiling of the first official historic marker in the nation recognizing the Gay Rights Struggle. The marker, placed by the Pennsylvania Historic Commission, is located directly across the street from Independence Hall at 6th & Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia.

Gittings continued to make appearances, even accepting an award from the American Psychiatric Association this past fall, but ill health finally led her and Lahausen to an Assisted Living Facility in Kennet Square, PA, where she went into a coma this morning, Sunday, February 18th and passed away with Kay at her side a 7:25 p.m. this evening.

Gittings and Lahausen lived their latter years in Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. Along with Lahausen, Gittings is survived by her sister, Eleanor Gittings Taylor of San Diego, California.

Lahausen asks that donations be made in Barbara's memory to Lambda Legal Defense Fund. A memorial is currently being planned.

A trip to Bearciti

Well it looks to me like the mass exodus of Bear 411 didn't happen. I don't have any major beef with Bear411. But if it's true that they do not allow some people to join because they don't look "Bear" enough, well that just makes me sick. As a bear who like cubs, otters, moose, AND twinks, I'd hate to think some cute smooth guy who loves bears is kept away from us!

At the same time, I'm also sickened by the way a lot of bears treat non-bears. I've heard stories from young cubs about rejection because they're small or smooth - not just sexual rejection, but outright social rudeness. It's one thing to say, "Sorry I'm not attracted to you" and quite another to say "You're not a bear. What are you doing here? Go away."

I spent some time on Bearciti.com this weekend and I have a few observations. The main thing I notice is that the site is painfully slow, even though it doesn't nearly have a large user base. Will it be able to accomodate all the speed demands of being a large site for bears on the prowl?

Bearciti's profile categories are fairly extensive, which is especially nice if you are interested in doing a detailed search - say for 5'9" 195# cub tops with red hair and tattoos ("Your Search has found 0 results"). Still, you aren't able to do a radius search of guys online. This is so basic for chatting, that I don't know why it isn't offered by either Bearciti or 411. On both sites, you can search who's online in your state, but this isn't helpful in DC, where we span three "states." You can specify a city, but you can't say "everyone online within 25 miles of me." If Bearciti adds a "guys online only" box to its advanced search page, they will be on to something.

Now I have to speak of the "THINGS I LIKE TO DO:" checklist. Sure it's pretty extensive with about 1500 checkboxes, but it is much too much trouble than it's worth. It's too long for any comfortable actual use. The items contain so many current pop-culture references that the administrators of the site will tire of keeping it up to date. And they even joke that the list is too long by having at least two different things to choose from joking how long it is. And even with all the choices, there's nothing for "irish guys," "short guys," or "guys in glasses."

Also on this list, you can choose "Bareback" or "Bareback with neg only," but you cannot choose "Bareback with poz only." This concept that it's ok to bareback if both guys say they are negative is really beyond any logic. Obviously this list was written by a negative guy with a negative prejudice (after all, he wouldn't want to bb with a poz guy!). Strangely, I've met many people who consider two allegedly negative barebackers more acceptable than a poz guy saying "let's be safe."

I like the "My Types" feature. And the autofill may come in handy for quick hellos. It's nice to see my chat history, too.

So I would say it's definately not bad for a site in beta, but they need to get the speed issues fixed right away. There's really no desire to wait 15-30 seconds for your search page to advance. And radius searching would be nice as a default location search of guys online.

One other thing lacking: an external link. I would send you to my profile, but there is no direct outside link. You have to be logged into the site and search for someone. I can direct you to my 411 profile by simply typing http://www.bear411.com/Bearnakedjoe

What Chocolate NOT to Buy for Your Gay Valentine

When I was young, I shared a Snickers bar with a boyfriend. Our two-ended snack ended in a kiss. During the super Bowl on Sunday, Snickers wanted to make sure America knew "That Ain't Right." Then on their website they housed videos that justified violence as a reward for a Gay Snickers Smackeroo. The website was removed Monday.

Re: http://americablog.blogspot.com/2007/02/
snickers-superbowl-web-site-promotes.html

via: http://www.snickers.com/contact.asp

Dear Snickers,

SHOW ME RESPONSIBILITY IN PRACTICE and fire the people responsible for your violent anti-gay advertising! Thank you for taking it down from your website, now remove the people responsible for such callous behavior. NOW JUST LOOKING AT A SNICKERS BAR MAKES ME ILL. Instead of chocolate, I'll see attackers beating bloody some gay, lesbian, or transgendered person who "Ain't Right."

How could anyone at MARS, Inc., even think this kind of murderous behavior was acceptable?

I was going to buy some personalized M&M's as a gift for Valentine's day, but now that I know what Mars, Inc. thinks about two men kissing, I'll buy my chocolate locally.

("RESPONSIBILITY IN PRACTICE" is one of Mars, Inc's corporate principles.)
http://www.mars.com/global/About+us/Principles+in+Practice/Responsibility+in+practice.htm
Mars brand candies include:

* Dove Chocolate
* Kudos
* M&M's
* Mars Bar
* Mars Delight
* Milky Way
* Skittles
* Snickers
* Starburst
* 3 Musketeers
* Twix

I'm not outright boycotting Mars, Inc candies. But now I seriously can't look at a Snickers bar without thinking that it hates me.

Weeping for What We Can Comprehend

Why is it with all the death and tragedy in the world, this is the story that brings me to uncontrollable tears ay my office desk? Maybe it's easier to cry over something so personally tragic than to cry over abstract destruction.

Elderly Woman Dies Trying To Save Cats From House Fire

Friends say a Texas woman was devoted to her seven cats, and she died trying to rescue them from her burning house.

Firefighters found the body of 77-year-old Mary Lou Henry in a hallway in her Texas City home. She was still holding one of her cats. That cat and another also died in the fire early yesterday. Medics administered oxygen to two other cats. They're now at a veterinary clinic. A fifth cat has been taken in by family members.

Henry's daughter says two other cats are missing. The fire marshal says the fire was probably started when one of the cats knocked over a candle in the living room, and it fell on a stack of papers and magazines.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Mary Cheney Getting the Heat She Deserves

Cheney's daughter: My baby 'is not a prop'

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In her first public remarks since news surfaced she was pregnant, Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, Wednesday defended her decision to have a baby with her partner and called it a "blessing from God" and "not a political statement." "It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of any issue," Cheney said during a Glamour Magazine panel on successful women.

So When Mary Cheney has a child with her lesbian lover, it's a "blessing from God," and "not a political statement." But when anyone else gay has children, it's a political target for her father's administration and party. Yet she still supports them. What a fucking hypocrite.

When her father mentions his gay daughter in political situations, he's a proud pappa. But when Kerry metioned it to point out Republican hypocracy, he was called a cretin. The whole Cheney family makes me ill.