What A World: The B Word
Last month a mini-debate swirled among OutSmart staff concerning our choice for the January 2007 cover.
Archive for February, 2007
OutLoud: To the Extreme
I walked into the Counseling Psychology class, overhead fluorescents glinting off my rainbow pin. I’d been invited as a sort of show and tell, a living example of queerdom. Glad to do my part.
ReadOut Shorts: February 2007
In Kevin, we have the quintessential romance novel. We watch a young gay man leave his Mormon home after a brutal beating, move to Las Vegas and become a nude dancer, find a patron who gives him a chance to chase his dreams, and finally find true love. This one is an endearing read, sweet but not cloying. — Review: Angel Curtis
OutRight: Lessons from Canada
The new Conservative government in Canada has lost its promised attempt to repeal same-sex marriage in that country. The vote in Canadian parliament was even more favorable to gay marriage than it was in 2005, with more Conservatives voting for it than last time. According to a story in the Toronto Sun, this decision appears to end the matter in Canada:
LeftOut: Holy Dispatch!
Thank you so much for sending me on this crucial missionary trip to the den of iniquity known as Canada. My dearest reverend, I can barely express my deep gratitude for this fact-finding opportunity. As you know, this will do wonders for my career in ministry. If there is one thing that matters to God’s people, it is learning the ins and outs of gay sex.
Livin’ La Dolce Musto
Years before Internet blogger Perez Hilton scrutinized and snarkily exposed closeted celebrities’ sexuality (and, indeed, before the Internet existed), Michael Musto was doing it. The Village Voice ‘s loved and loathed gossip columnist, and occasional VH-1, MSNBC, and E! commentator, Musto brought us behind the velvet ropes to get a peek at celebrity and New York’s audacious nightlife with a queer, politically charged eye and deliciously witty style. His new collection La Dolce Musto: Writings by The World’s Most Outrageous Columnist (Carroll & Graf) compiles columns and essays past and present, both fluffy and profound, distanced and deeply personal, including ones in which he outs a then-closeted Rosie O’Donnell (in 1997), shares watching Sandra Bernhard and then gal pal Madonna act zany onstage at a 1989 one-time-only fundraiser, and recounts the horror of AIDS’ decimation of the gay community and the activism it spawned.
InsideOut At City Hall: Well, Isn’t That Special?
Keep your voter-registration cards handy. The city has scheduled a special election for May 12. This one may be a little more special than others because the mayor and most City Council members wanted to save the estimated $3 million cost of an election and probable runoff and postpone, until the regular November city election, filling the vacancy created by Council member Shelley Sekula-Gibb’s resignation and run for Congress.
GrooveOut Shorts 2
The greatest benefit of this deluxe limited edition CD-DVD combo release does not lie in the CD packed with rousing straight-ahead rock songs recorded minimally to emphasize an extemporaneous air. The real advantage lies in the DVD, which holds every video the band has released to date, including the famed treadmill video for “Here It Goes Again” that helped put the band on the map. From Capitol Records (www.capitolrecords.com). — Preview: Eric A.T. Dieckman
GrooveOut Shorts: February 2007
Woobie Bear Music started as a music community devoted to “music by bears, music for bears,” but it’s become much more with its CD releases. The latest is G CD Global 1 and offers tracks by 36 GLBT artists from around the world, with about a third of the songs only available on this compilation. Disc 1 is all dance and electronic, and the second disc is mainly rock-oriented. In short, this is a quality compilation by our own artists. From Woobie Bear Music (www.woobiebearmusic.com). — Review: JD Doyle
News Briefs: February 2007
More than 80 people gathered at Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church on January 13 for a town-hall meeting called by Pride Houston, the producers of the local GLBT Pride Parade and Festival. At the meeting, the last in a series of three, the Vision 2008 Task Force established by Pride Houston’s board of directors explained ideas for moving the annual celebration held each June in Montrose to a downtown location at the end of September.
