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OutQ’s Presidential Caucus Chock Full of SIRIUS Discussion

SIRIUS Satellite Radio just wrapped up its three-hour forum on Democratic presidential politics on its OutQ channel, and results are in from the accompanying Web and phone polls conducted in conjunction with the program. Prominent supporters of Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debated LGBT issues with caucus host Michelangelo Signorile and callers, including yours truly. Interestingly, the results were different depending on whether the voter weighed in by phone or online. Signorile suggested that the differing results could be attributed to blog links to the poll, while phone votes were more likely to come from those who were listening in on their satellite radios rather than the online version of the channel. Obama won the online poll, 59 to 39 percent. This was a significant turnaround from earlier in the show, when Clinton was leading at one point by more than 70 percent. In phone voting, Clinton won the poll 60 percent to Obama’s 40.

The poll results and live conversation seem to reflect the angst that LGBT voters feel about choosing between the lesser of two evils. Hilary Rosen, president of ourchart.com and a supporter of Senator Clinton, rightly and repeatedly asserted that neither candidate was right on gay marriage, including the one she was there to (unofficially) represent. Stampp Corbin (the National LGBT Liaison for the Obama campaign, and Co-Chair of the National LGBT Leadership Team, Obama for America ’08) was somewhat more hesitant to characterize his candidate’s positions on LGBT rights as less than ideal. When called out by Rosen for his efforts to defend Obama, Corbin said he saw his role in the caucus as that of explaining his candidate’s position rather than defending them. Overall, though, both participants offered generally honest and frank comments on the candidates’ positions with good humor and respect–a lesson the campaigns themselves would be well advised to adopt.

In my question to Rosen and Corbin, I pointed out that candidate positions on LGBT issues are what they are for the duration of this primary season. I asked both to look ahead to the general election and discuss viability. A thoughtful discussion ensued about which candidate is the more electable. Would a Democratic ticket headed by Clinton re-energize the right wing that demonizes her? Would Clinton scandals resurface and hurt the Democrat’s chances to win the White House? And in the case of Obama, how well did he handle former President Bill Clinton’s attacks on his comments about President Reagan’s role in bringing different ideas to the national stage than had been pursued before? Was he tested enough when it comes to standing up to the Republican attack machine, called “reverse plastic surgery” by (ironically) President Clinton?

Without a crystal ball, there is no definitive answer, of course. Rosen and Corbin both made reasonable arguments for their candidates. Rosen pointed out that Clinton has been thoroughly tested by proxy, after her husband’s eight years of attack and investigation. Corbin described Obama as no John Kerry, assuring listeners that Obama would not hesitate to respond and neutralize Republican attacks. Show host Signorile made an interesting point that recent claims that Obama is a Muslim resulted in questions about its accuracy from his otherwise rational, liberal-leaning callers. It does give one pause to think that American voters could fall for more Swift-Boat-Veterans-style propoganda. But Obama did respond quickly to the allegation, which is false, with a faith-oriented speech and repeated statements informing the public of his Methodist Church membership.

In a follow-up, Rosen asked me if I thought a Democrat could win in Georgia. I responded that I do. Perhaps my faith in my fellow Georgians is irrational optimism. But I pointed out that two of our largest counties, metro Atlanta’s Cobb and Gwinnett, have trended more Democratic in recent years and are expected to continue going blue by many political observers. In retrospect, I should have added that the key to a Democratic victory, in my opinion, will rest more on voter turnout than on the political leanings of the electorate. In the 2004 primaries here, many victories were won by only a few hundred votes. Metro Atlanta, like many cities, can be generally described as more liberal than our country neighbors. The ATL is also home to one of the nation’s largest LGBT populations. But 2004 turnout in the city was not strong enough to overcome radical conservative votes motivated by the Republican’s gay marriage wedge. There is no such wedge issue that has surfaced so far this political season. Republican efforts to make immigrants the next target of their demonization has lacked the punch that homophobia gave them.

Whether you support Clinton or Obama, it’s critical that you vote–in the primary and the general election. While the LGBT community has no perfect ally, Republicans are clearly enemies of equality. Not to mention their mismanagement of an unnecessary war, their denial of climate change, and their asleep-at-the-wheel governance when it came to Hurrican Katrina and now the economy. In 2004, Democrats often repeated the slogan, “ABBA: Anybody But Bush Again.” In 2008, perhaps we should use Stephen Colbert’s election coverage catch phrase as our new bumper sticker: “Don’t F#@k This Up America.”

Short-Attention-Span Dating for Lesbians Returns to Atlanta

For single women without the time or patience for personals, or who find the bar scene wanting, Atlanta event organizers Girls Gone Pride are bringing speed dating for lesbians back for another round on February 17th. Girls Gone Pride Co-founder Deanna tells me that the age range for the speed dating events have really been varied. “We have younger, older and those who are in between. I think we ended up with around 24 or so women at the last one,” she said.

Bird, the other half of Girls Gone Pride, added that the fast-daters were from all walks of life. A creation of the hetero world, speed dating is a relatively recent social phenomenon, no doubt a result of the increasingly fast, multitasked American lifestyle. Instant gratification no doubt has its advantages when you’re trying to deal with work, Atlanta traffic, a somewhat limited lesbian bar scene and stand-offish dykes.

In an episode of Logo TV’s Big Gay Sketch Show last season (episode 101), a spoof of lesbian speed dating was about the funniest skit I’ve ever seen. In it, two lesbians complete an entire relationship in the short window they are given to “speed date.” The characters move in together, adopt cats, fight, cheat and break up in just three minutes. Now that is taking U-hauling to a whole new level. It’s probably worth attending Girls Gone Pride’s event, if only to see how dykes, stereotypically fast in moving from a meet to a marriage, deal with the speed-dating movement in real life. The February speed dating event will be held at Birdi’s in Decatur, starting at 6:30 p.m. There’s a $5.00 registration fee. For more information, you can check out Girls Gone Pride’s myspace page.

LGBT Voters to Get Sirius About Their Presidential Choices

SIRIUS Satellite Radio is holding a “queer caucus” of sorts tomorrow on The Michelangelo Signorile Show. The show is a part of the Internet and satellite radio company’s OutQ LGBT radio channel 109. The SIRIUS event is well, seriously not an actual caucus, of course, but rather a chance for the LGBT community to discuss the candidates’ positions amongst ourselves. The Michelangelo Signorile Show “caucus” will air live from 3:00 until 5:00 EDT tomorrow (January 31).

Appearing on the program will be Hilary Rosen in support of Senator Hillary Clinton, and Stampp Corbin for Senator Barack Obama. Rosen is president of the lesbian social networking site OurChart.com, an active public speaker, and regularly appears on national TV as a political and business commentator. It does not appear that Rosen is officially affiliated with the Clinton campaign. Corbin is the National LGBT Liaison for the Obama campaign and co-chair of the National LGBT Leadership Team, Obama for America ‘08. A high-tech entrepreneur, Corbin also served on The Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign from 1996-2003 and has also served as co-chair of HRC’s Finance Committee Co-Chair.

Also scheduled to appear was Eric Stern, a political advisor to the John Edwards for President Campaign. Sirius has not announced whether or not Stern will still appear, now that Edwards has bowed out of the campaign. Sterns is an attorney, educator, social activist and veteran of multiple Democratic campaigns. In the 2004 election cycle, Stern served as the Director of LGBT Outreach at the Democratic National Committee where he developed a voter mobilization plan that helped to turnout more than 3.5 million LGBT votes for Democratic candidates nationally, according to the Sirius press release.

The guests will discuss the candidates’ platforms and views, and take questions from callers. Sirius has more than 8 million subscribers who listen to its commercia-free programming on satellite radios or over the Internet. If you are not one of them, you can still listen in and participate. Just sign up for a three-day free trial here.

After all the talk, how will we know where the LGBT audience stands? Sirius Spokesperson Hillary Schupf tells Life on Q that “listeners are encouraged to participate in an online poll, where they can vote in the caucus for their candidate of choice.” Voting will be open during the show and results will be announced at the end. With “super-duper” Tuesday less than a week away, and John Edwards abandoning his candidacy, it will be interesting to see how candidate positions, and LGBT support, have shifted since last summer’s Presidential Forum on Logo TV.

Drop the Soap. Please.

If you find man-on-man rape humorous… if you think a prison sentence would be entertaining… then there’s a new game for you, available from the governor’s mansion of the state of Kansas. Governor Kathleen Sebelius‘ son John is the creator of what must be the world’s most bizarre and tasteless board game. It’s called “Don’t Drop the Soap.” The game is reportedly the result of an art school project by the 23-year-old son of the governor, a Democrat, and her federal magistrate court judge husband, Gary.

Available at the end of this month, you can have the game for your very own for a mere $34.99 plus shipping and handling. Apparently, the shipping will be handled from One SW Cedar Crest Road in Topeka, Kansas. Yep, that’s the governor’s mansion, the house that the people of Kansas maintain with their tax dollars.

Obviously, John Sebelius is some piece of work. What is it with heterosexual fantasies (or is it merely ignorance) about homo-sex and showers? What makes prison rape, (or stealing or gang fighting, for that matter) an acceptable premise for fun and games? And why would Governor Sebelius send her spokeswoman out to proclaim her and her husband’s pride at their son’s “creativity and talent?”

Play “Don’t Drop the Soap” and fight in gang wars, steal painkillers, smoke your stash in “The Hole,” and–the most fun of all–try to avoid being raped by Aryans in the shower room. I’m not making this up.

But rest assured, absolutely no lead paint was used in the manufacture of the game. John also promises us that “no puppies were injured” in the production of any of his products, which also include t-shirts featuring his artwork. (Note to readers: I am purposely not providing a link to John Sebelius’ Website. I do not want to inadvertently support him.)

Sebelius the younger, the third generation of two successful political families, clearly has no political ambition. (His grandfather, Kathleen’s dad John Gilligan, was governor of Ohio in the 1970’s. His dad’s dad, the late Keith Sebelius, was a Republican Congressman for 12 years.)

Certainly, John the younger has the creativity it takes to get away with selling an adults-only game about prison rape from the Kansas governor’s mansion, and get his parents’ blessing to boot. But what John Sebelius does not have is a talent for good taste.

As for Gov. Sebelius? Well, she may or may not know much about art, but she should know what is distasteful to a largely Democratic-leaning LGBT voter base. And she should know better that an adult game glorifying crime is not appropriate business to come out of the governor’s mansion.

On the other hand, despite the fact that she is pushing 60, Kathleen Sebelius is one hot governor. Should she ever find herself on the wrong side of the law, I’m sure her cell mates will be hoping she’ll drop the soap. Please.

(Don’t worry, governor. I’m only being creative.)

Phelps Family Won’t Let Heath Ledger Rest in Peace

Fred Phelps and his family cult are at it again. His Westboro Baptist Church announced their intention to protest at actor Heath Ledger’s U.S. memorial services. The actor, who was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday, is expected to be buried in his native Australia.

Classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Westboro Baptist Church has picketed thousands of LGBT events, including funerals. The Topeka, Kansas group has more recently turned its rage toward the U.S. military, protesting the funerals of soldiers killed in action in Iraq. Their clearly irrational “rationale” is that God is punishing America for being tolerant of gays and lesbians by killing U.S. soldiers with IEDs.

Phelps’ church posted a bulletin on one of its many hate Websites announcing their intention to picket the actor’s U.S. memorial services, because he portrayed a gay cowboy in the ground-breaking film Brokeback Mountain. Heath Ledger was not a homosexual; he just played one in the movies.

And again, the media is covering Phelps’ announcement as a “church’s” protest. Yet Westboro Baptist “Church” is attended only by members of Fred Phelps’ immediate family. (Read my post about the Showtime documentary Fall from Grace for a full rant on the Phelps clan.) Just because Phelps twists the pages of the bible, picking and choosing the passages to follow, doesn’t make him a minister and doesn’t make his family a church. There is a more accurate term for Westboro. It’s clearly a cult built around the rage and abuse of one father, from which only four of his 13 children managed to escape.

From all media accounts (which, in their own right, have gone way overboard in sensationalizing the actor’s death), Heath Ledger was a tolerant man. His love for his daughter and family were obvious. If only those who were moved by Ledger’s art were less tolerant of the kind of hate and hurt that the Phelps family plans to interject into the actor’s memory. May Heath rest in peace.

It’s Official: Atlanta Pride Moves South

Southern Voice reports that Atlanta Pride has a final decision on the location of the 2008 LGBT festival. Although Executive Director Donna Narducci indicated the new location will cost the Pride Committee significantly more, the Civic Center location is only a few blocks south from Atlanta Pride’s traditional home in Piedmont Park. The serious drought in Georgia prompted the City of Atlanta to kick all major festivals out of the park out of concern for the health of the grass and trees.

The dates of the festival have also moved out. No longer on the traditional Stonewall weekend at the the end of June, this year’s Pride will be held on an all-American holiday: the 4th of July.  Thinking through the pro’s and con’s of the changes to Atlanta Pride, a few issues come to mind.

Pros:  The parade route will essentially be reversed, rather than rebuilt. This will minimize confusion for participants and watchers. The July 4 weekend dates will maintain some symbolic significance, although more mainstream than the traditional Stonewall Riot anniversary. The Civic Center will provide the Pride Committee with both indoor and outdoor festivities, eliminating the threat of a total washout from violent Atlanta summer storms. And the Civic Center keeps the festival close to Atlanta’s largest gay neighborhood, Midtown, while actually improving the accessibility via public transportation.

Cons: Outdoor activities will presumably be held in a parking lot. If you’ve never experienced being baked alive on concrete, this gives you a chance to raise your body temperature in the height of an Atlanta summer. On the bright side, you’ll be able to cook your own meal on the pavement right where you stand. Parking around the Civic Center is significantly more limited than the minimal parking around Piedmont Park. With the festival itself taking up parking spaces, driving to Pride will be significantly more difficult. The Independence Day date will cause Pride to compete with the Peachtree Road Race, fireworks displays and other July4 festivities for access to hotels, restaurants and event facilities. Ultimately, the biggest risk in this move of dates and location will likely be the confusion it will create for festival goers. Many of my fellow Atlanta queers have expressed concern that Pride may be a bust this year.

All the changes interject a lot of unknowns into one of the nation’s largest Gay Pride events. We’ll watch and wait to see how the Atlanta Pride Committee steps up to the plate to minimize the negatives and promote the positives.

Bisexuality is its Own Team, Study Shows

Should bisexuals just “pick a team?” Why don’t they just “get off the fence?” These are some of the common frustrations aimed at bisexuals from the straight and LGBT communities alike. But a new study finds that, at least in women, bisexuality is not a result of sexual confusion. Nor is it a transitional phase between homosexuality and heterosexuality. ABC News reports that a new study by Lisa Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender studies at the University of Utah, found bisexuality in women to be a “natural state.” Diamond told ABC that her findings suggest that bisexuality should be recognized as a distinct sexual orientation.

The small study followed 79 bisexual women for 10 years, and while some occasionally waivered in their sexual preference, few described themselves as “switching” to become either lesbian or straight. The research also challenged the notion that bisexual women are less likely to be successful in committing to a long-term relationship. The majority of the study participants were in monogamous relationships that lasted five years or more.

The study will be published in the January issue of the American Psychological Association’s journal, Developmental Psychology. Diamond has also written two books on female sexuality: Rethinking Positive Adolescent Female Sexual Development (2006) and the forthcoming book (to be published by Harvard University Press on February 15, 2008), Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire.

Bisexual Men More Rare?

Larry Craig and the “on the down low” phenomenon notwithstanding, other research has found that bisexuality is more common in women than men. Diamond’s research suggests that women have different patterns of sexual response than men do. But Diamond says her research should not be construed to mean that male bisexuality does not exist, but rather than more study is needed to define its unique characteristics.

In my experience, lesbians often struggle to describe how female relationships are different. It’s an emotional thing. It’s about the connection, as much or more so than sexual intimacy.

Atlanta Pride Pushed out of Piedmont Park

It won’t be raining men, or women, in Piedmont Park this June. Southern Voice reports that Atlanta Pride will not be held at the Midtown Atlanta greenspace that has been the festival’s home for three decades. What’s more, a new Atlanta Pride location has not been selected, nor is a date yet known.  Pride is being pushed out of the  because of concern for the condition of the 100+ acre park after 2007’s severe drought.

Pride Executive Director Donna Narducci told Southern Voice that no major events will be held in Piedmont in 2008 due to damage already inflicted by the drought.  It will be interesting to see if the City of Atlanta does indeed bar all events from the park, including the world-famous Peachtree Road Race, which brings thousands of runners pounding through the park every July 4, just days after the traditional Pride weekend.

A date for Atlanta Pride 2008 will not be set until a new venue is chosen.  Narducci indicated that the Atlanta Civic Center is one possibility.  If the Civic Center is chosen, the parade route to end where it traditionally starts. The festival itself would then be held inside and around the Civic Center.  The Pride Committee is also reportedly reviewing Atlantic Station as another possibility.

It’s somewhat ironic that Atlanta Pride, which regularly is deluged with heavy rain, will be moved because of a lack of water.  It would seem that scheduling pride is as good as a rain dance (or Gov. Perdue’s prayers) at inducing downpours.   Of course, a single rain event, or even continuous drought-busting showers, would not likely revive the park in time.

Atlanta Pride has always been a sprawling, outdoor test of individual heat tolerance.  It would seem somewhat odd to have it become an indoor “trade show.”  Not undoable, but decidedly different.  On the other hand, perhaps there are other, less abused park spaces that could accomodate the festival.  Freedom Park, which separates toney Virginia-Highlands from punky Little Five Points, comes to mind.  It is aptly named, with the Carter Presidential Library at its heart.  There are parking lots, street parking and reasonably easy access from MARTA.  Or Grant Park, which hosts the annual Pride Run, offers pavilions and multiple spaces for stages and exhibits.  There are three parking lots (if you count the zoo lots), as well as street parking.

Whatever the Pride Committee choice, Atlanta’s annual LGBT festival will certainly feel different this year.  It is hard to believe it is leaving it’s heart:  the heart of Midtown Atlanta.