Foodies, rejoice! Bravo TV has announced it is serving up yet another helping of its highly popular culinary competition, Top Chef. This time the kitchen is set in Chicago, where 16 contestants battle to determine who has the best skills when it comes to chowtime.
As Perry Halkitis, Ph.D., explains onscreen, the problem with meth is that many users find it to be “…the most ideal drug for gay men.” This unsettling documentary takes an intimate look at the lives of seven gay men hooked on the hypersexual drug. Some make it out of the addiction alive, one doesn’t. • 2006. Directed by Jay Corcoran. • From Outcast Films (www.outcast-films.com). — Review: Eric A.T. Dieckman
March! I’m referring to the proper noun, not the verb.
I love this month! March has always been special for me. When I was a young girl, March heralded the arrival of softball season, which was for me akin to a religious experience. A strawberry on my leg obtained from sliding safely into second base was far better than any stigmata.
A year ago at this time there were high hopes among gay activists for the new Democratic Congress. They were going to pass legislation expanding gay rights and eliminating discrimination that had long been blocked by the Republicans in power since 1995. Even if Bush vetoed new gay-rights legislation, the Democrats would at least put him on the defensive about it and build momentum for the day when the Democrats took the White House. All of this would be payback for the huge amount of time, energy, and money that gay Americans—their third most loyal voting constituency after blacks and Jews—had given the Democrats.
I caught the political bug while in college in 1992, seduced by the charming optimism of Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. At the time, I was interning as a radio news reporter at KQED in San Francisco. One of my assignments was to cover a Clinton visit. Although I was still a political neophyte, there was something special about this candidate. With a central theme of “change,” he inspired and instilled hope—while making the future seem limitless.
I had a truly surreal experience one day last month. And the next day on the front of the Metro Section of the Houston Chronicle was a photograph that captured it. It was a photo of a police honor guard arrayed at attention awaiting a funeral procession. Standing at the end of the row, also at attention, is a woman. The photo is nicely composed, shot from behind to capture the individuals and the shadows they cast.
You’ve seen those old Popeye cartoons. Bluto’s meaty fist clutches Popeye by the neck, whomping him like a rag doll this way and that. Olive Oyl stands ringside, wringing her hankie in distress. The battered sailor-man pulls out a can, musters enough strength to squeeze it open, and downs a sopping wad of spinach. Instantly, his muscles bulge, his pipe twirls, and in no time he is pummeling Bluto’s head while the soundtrack kicks in with Popeye’s theme song. With one final brawny punch, our hero sends the bad guy flying. Toot toot.
God hates fags. We’ve all heard it. We’ve all seen the protest signs. We’ve all shuddered at the thought of the unbridled violent hatred lying behind those words, waiting to attack. Leviticus 18:22 is at the heart of the confusion: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
The Montrose Softball League, one of the largest gay sports organizations in the state, has been batting and balling since 1979. Their newest season begins March 30 with a record-setting abundance of men’s and women’s teams — 28 this year — competing against each other. • But the league is about much more than some 448 men and women playing softball, insists league publicity chair Anthony Fry, who is pictured here (on the left) with fellow leaguer, Julie Tyree. “It’s not about skill level,” Fry says. “It’s about making relationships and friendships that last a lifetime.” • Exhibiting admirable sportspersonship, each year MSL helps support the community it plays in. The 2008 beneficiaries are the Houston GLBT Community Center and Legacy Community Health Services. • The teams play ball each Sunday through June at the newly renovated Slo-Pitch City in north Houston. Details: www.montrosesoftballleague.com.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your dildos: Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a Texas statute outlawing sex toy sales.
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