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Still Lots to Do During the Last Two Days of Black Gay Pride

Life on Q has again put together a comprehensive list of events and parties for Atlanta Black Gay Pride. All events listed were checked for accuracy, but times and locations may be subject to change. It’s a good idea to check with the event organizer and/or location to confirm. You can view and download an interactive PDF version of the schedule with links here, or check out the static list below.

Black Gay Pride Events Keep Popping Up

I just discovered yet another Atlanta Black Gay Pride event that is not on Life on Q’s comprehensive event list for today.  There’s an afterparty following tonight’s play at the Woodruff Arts Center, Walk Like a Man.  The afterparty will be at Cenci from 9:30 pm until 12:30 am.   There will be giveaways, free Henna body tattoos, body art models and $5.00 Seduction martinis.  The event is sponsored by ourchart.com and presented by Felicity Nuance Events.  Cenci is located at 1259 Glenwood Avenue SE, in East Atlanta Village.

Get Your Comprehensive Atlanta Black Gay Pride Schedule Right Here

Wow, just trying to find and organize all the Atlanta Black Gay Pride events has me feeling tired already!  Below is a comprehensive list of Gay Pride events, combining the official ITLA events and other activities hosted by event producers, party planners, local theaters and bookstores.  You may download a PDF version of today’s schedule (which includes hyperlinks to many of the event organizers) or take a look at the static event list below.  Here are your Black Gay Pride options for today:

Republicans Continue Their Law of Opposites Approach with VP Choice

In the initial media coverage of today’s announcement of John McCain’s choice for the Republican VP nomination, the word of the day has been “maverick.”  I see it more as “cavalier.” In choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain has not made a maverick choice, but rather has remained loyal to the Republican party line.  While undermining the rule of law for the last eight years, the Republican Party has instead governed by the law of opposites. How can this say-one-thing-do-the-opposite strategic approach to elections and governing not be recognized as cynical, manipulative and yes, immoral?

Today we learned John McCain has embraced this law of opposities in his VP choice.  Clearly Governor Sarah Palin is a choice made in cynicism.  Rush Limbaugh said it on his radio show this morning:  “Now we’re the ones with a babe on our ticket.”  Can it be any clearer that Gov. Palin is a token?  As a woman, I find that more offensive than any of the perceived slights to Hillary Clinton (and the real slights and sexist coverage aimed at her by the media). After months of attacks on Barack Obama for his experience and age, McCain chooses someone with less experience who is three years younger.

I do understand McCain’s logic, a brain-twister though it is. Palin is perfect for the Republican agenda.  McCain clearly is counting on Palin’s gender neutralizing the historic aura around Barack Obama.  I have to give it to McCain, Palin is a rare find.  She is a woman who opposes a woman’s right to choose.  She is a woman whose position on gun control are dead-on with the NRA’s postions.  She’s been photographed aiming AK-47s, a weapon with a single purpose:  killing people quickly, in large numbers.  She is a woman who opposes gay rights.  She is the daughter of a preacher.  She favors more oil drilling in Alaska and took campaign contributions from Veco, the same company connected to Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Palin is even an enemy to polar bears.  She opposed Pres. Bush’s decision to put polar bears on the threatened species list.  Her government filed suit against Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne earlier this month, hoping to reverse polar bear protections.

The religious right, who have been less than enthusiastic about McCain, must be thrilled.  The Republicans must be hoping that her gender will be an effective Trojan horse.  Once back through the gates to the White House, using the skirts of Palin to hide their attempt to borrow, or steal, the sense of history that Democrats gave us in Obama and Clinton. If given the chance to govern, Palin’s gender will matter less to Republicans than her hard-right positions on pretty much every issue of importance to women.  McCain has placed his bet on the disgruntled women who voted for Hillary Clinton.  Surely that is a bet he will lose once those women consider what’s at stake for them and their daughters if we end up facing four more years of conservative Republican rule. More »

Democratic National Convention Was Mission Accomplished

With all the media hype about a throw-down between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, you would have thought the Democratic National Convention was going to devolve into an episode of American Gladiators.  Yet despite the flames not only fanned, but in some cases actually lit by the media, the Democrats pulled off a masterpiece.  The cattiness of Hillary Clinton and her supporters the was supposed to provide the drama never materialized.  Clinton reminded any supporters who still resisted taking that chip off their shoulder were asked to consider if their support was about Hillary, or about a better future and an end to Republican mismanagement.  After awhile, the media’s endless drum beat for Hillary v. Obama began to ring very hollow.

One after another, speakers stood before delegates and made an arguably air-tight case for why Barack Obama is the better choice for the presidency.  Every weak, diversionary argument the Republicans have made were countered by an equal and opposite reality.  Efforts to paint Obama as elite were rebutted with stories of his modest life as a child of a single mother, going to college on scholarships and loans as many of us do.  Accusations of elitism began to crumble in the days leading up to the convention, when John McCain was unable to answer a question that most Americans would answer, “One,” or “None.”  McCain has no idea how many houses he owns.  So, who are we supposed to consider the elite candidate in this election?

The accusation that Obama does not have the experience to be president were met with reminders that the founder of the Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln, was elected President with roughly the same experience Obama has now–a stint in the Illinois state legislature and part of one term in Congress.  Bill Clinton reminded us that the same arguments were used against him when he first ran, accepting his party’s nomination when he was two years younger than Obama is today. Assumptions of a close election were answered by Al Gore, who stated the obvious that among young voters, most active in politics for the first time, Obama has a considerable advantage.

And in the Democrat’s grand finale, the acceptance speech in front of 80,000 in a football stadium, Obama’s speech was no less than perfection.  The “rock star” environment, often used as a slur by Republicans, was masterfully managed with the counterpoint of Obama’s humility, the added meat of the policy specifics that provided the substance many tried to paint as lacking, and point-by-point counterpoints for all the arguments the McCain camp has made against him.  Obama even bravely took on the hot button issues that have divided this country for more than a generation:  gun control, abortion, gay rights–he challenged virtually every issue that separates us with a call for compassion, community and common ground.  Tears welled up when he challenged homophobia head-on, in front of millions watching on TV and online, saying:

I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothrs and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and live their lives free of discrimination…  This too is part of America’s promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

Obama proved to be the master orator we had seen before, but not just for soaring rhetoric.  There was sizzle, and steak to energize the masses.  With an estimated 38 millioin watching on TV and 80,000 seeing history in person, Obama knocked it out of the park.  I woke up this morning with a hope hangover.  All  observers, no matter their politics, are giving Obama his due today.  It’s too bad Democrats didn’t take the opportunity for irony.  In addition to fireworks and streamers, there should have been a banner unfurled in Denver, reading: Mission Accomplished.

Harry Anderson’s Life Among the Lesbians

I spent the day yesterday at an unusual event and had a brush with celebrity.  I attended the Southeastern Association of Magicians Convention here in Atlanta with my friends Rick and Sydney, who were in town for the gathering.  The best known of the professional magicians in attendance was Harry Anderson, best known for his role as Judge Harry T. Stone on the television series Night Court, the Emmy Award-winning series that ran from 1985 to 1992.  He has also made numerous appearances on Saturday Night Live, Cheers, and more recently, Real Time with Bill Mahar.  Anderson, an accomplished magician, rarely attends conventions, but came down from Asheville to present a lecture for the attendees in support of friends who are active with S.E.A.M.

I do not normally travel in magician’s circles.  (Actually they call their groups “rings.”) But I wanted to attend Anderson’s lecture, because he has recently moved to Asheville, a wonderful North Carolina town known for its unusual concentration of culture in the midst of Appalachian backwater communities.  Asheville is also has a reputation as home to a significant New Age population of pagans, herbalists and the like.  It is also a little oasis for lesbians (and gays) in a valley surrounded by the conservative, heterosexual South.  I love it there, for all of the above reasons.  Anderson moved from New Orleans to Asheville in the aftermath of Katrina.

I was amused by Harry Anderson’s story about the small city he now calls home.  His first Asheville experience was actually years ago, long before his successful career had taken off.  As a performer for Ripley’s Believe It or Not, he had been transfered to the Gatlinburg, Tennessee location to work his magic there.  He met a group of girls there who were going to hike the 40 or so miles through the mountains to Asheville.  He decided to join them, he said, because he was sure that if he could show them he could walk 40 miles, he was sure to get laid.  But, alas, arriving in Asheville, he found himself surrounded by one of the largest populations of lesbians in the South.  The girls he had hiked with promptly ditched him. Anderson’s hopes of getting lucky were dashed.

Yours truly with Harry Anderson

Now a full-time Asheville resident, Anderson and his wife seem content to live among the dykes.  In an appearance with Bill Mahar in 2006, not long after Anderson’s move, he said of Asheville, “I’m sure there’s a heterosexual subculture, but I haven’t found it yet.” At this weekend’s convention, he joked that many locals refer to the town as “A She-ville.”  Chatting with Anderson after his lecture, I told him of my fascination with Asheville and asked him how things were going there.  He told me that the area is great, but needs to shake out a little.  “We could use a few less Thai restaurants and a real hardware store,” he told me.

I couldn’t help but think that was odd, really.  An unusually large population of lesbians and no good hardware store?  I guess the Asheville dykes are roughing it up there in the mountains.

So Many Atlanta Black Gay Pride Events, So Little Time

With Atlanta Black Gay Pride only a week away, this blogger is feeling the heat to share Pride event information with you.  There are literally so many events, it may take me the full week just to mention them all.  But I am going to give it the old college try.  Please check back often, as I will be adding events fast and furiously.  For starters, I’m providing here links to many of the event producers and schedules.  That will hopefully help you surf more thoroughly as you plan your Labor Day Weekend here in Hotlanta.

For starters, you can see the official In the Life Atlanta (ITLA) Black Gay Pride schedule here.  The second annual State of Black Gay America (SBGA) Summit will held in conjunction with Black Gay Pride.  The summit provides a forum for local and national leaders to meet with members of the GLBT community to share information that will stimulate discussion on issues specific to GLBT people of color.  There will be presentations from a distinguished panel of individuals, including a keynote address by actress Sheryl Lee Ralph. You can see the schedule for the SBGA Summit here.  The SBGA Summit will be held from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.on Saturday, August 30, 2008 at The Renaissance Atlanta Hotel-Downtown, 590 W. Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30308

In addition to all the thinking, information sharing and shopping at Black Gay Pride and the SBGA Summit, there are plenty of parties to get you on your feet and out on the town.

For events primarily for women, see:

Circles 2

Girls in the Day (Daytime events)

Girls in the Night (Evening events)

Mix Her

Traxx Girls

For events primarily for men, see:

WassupNATL

The Lion’s Den

Traxx Atlanta

For events for both men and women, see:

Methane Entertainment

Take a look at any of these Websites and I think you’ll understand the enormous task ahead of me if I am going to create a comprehensive summary for you.  I’m on it, right after I take more vitamins.

Atlanta Black Gay Pride: A Time to Act

This year marks the 12th year of Atlanta Black Gay Pride, and event organizers In the Life Atlanta (ITLA) decided it is Time to Act.  That is the theme of this year’s event, scheduled for August 27-September 1, 2008.   ITLA estimates an attendance of 75,000, making Black Gay Pride the country’s largest event for same-gender-loving and LGBTQ persons of color and African descent.  But don’t think Black Gay Pride is only for people of color.  This white girl has attended for the last couple of years, and I’ve always been welcomed, learned a thing or two about the issues we all face, seen some amazing performances and had a great time at the many parties that are scheduled around the Pride event itself.

ITLA describes Black Gay Pride as a party with a purpose, where participants will experience empowering workshops and seminars, explore health and wellness issues, and be surprised by unexpected celebrity appearances and performances.  Among the festivities this year will be the launch of the Bayard Rustin-Barbara Jordan Social Change Institute, a social justice project designed to engage social reformists, community leaders and elected officials to collaborate on initiatives designed to foster civic engagement; build respect for diversity and create enduring change in our communities.

For the literati, ITLA has scheduled an amazing group of African-American queer authors for its Literary Cafe, to be held from 10 a.m. till noon on Saturday, August 30th at Altitude, an event space atop the host hotel, W-Atlanta Midtown.  Presented in partnership with Fire & Ink, Inc., the literary cafe will serve up satisfying readings by six black gay and lesbian writers, including Laurinda Brown (Highest Price for Passion); Michael-Christopher (Unspeakable); G. Winston James (The Damaged Good; Voices Rising); E. Patrick Johnson (Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South—An Oral History); and Atlanta’s own Fiona Zedde (Hungry for It).  Fire & Ink, Inc. is an organization devoted to increasing the understanding, visibility and awareness of the works of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender writers of African descent and heritage.

Fire & Ink Presents!/The Literary Cafe is partially sponsored by a grant from the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. The authors’ books will be available for sale after the reading, and at the Charis Books & More vendor booth at the Black Pride Marketplace all Labor Day weekend.

ITLA reports that all booth space at the Pride Marketplace are sold out.  Considering this tough economy, that’s a very good sign for the success of the event.  Atlanta Black Gay Pride will be held at the W Atlanta Midtown Hotel, 188 14th Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309.

Ellen Gets Her Gay Wedding

After all these years, hope is lost.  It’s time to give up the fantasy of being Ellen Degeneres’ girlfriend.  Sorry, fellow Ellen admirers.  Ellen and Portia de Rossi got married — legally married — at their California home on Saturday. After all the attention Ellen endured in her pioneering, televised coming out, along with the ongoing ogling of her life, it was nice to hear that she and Portia decided on a private, intimate ceremony attended by less than 20 guests, according to People Magazine.

Ellen certainly deserved to keep this life milestone mostly out of the glare of the public spotlight. To be sure, there will be lots of media coverage of the couple’s nuptials. E! News has posted pictures and a video (watch it below).  She made the decision to announce her engagement to Portia on The Ellen Degeneres Show back in May and to talk about it regularly on the show, and at awards shows such as the Daytime Emmys. What choice did she have, really?  Ellen is the official unofficial lesbian mascot, constantly expected to represent us all, or so it would seem. But all things considered, it appears they were able to enjoy their wedding in relative privacy.  And by relative, I mean privacy in the context of the world’s most recognizable out lesbian.

It’s hard to overstate the impact Ellen has had on gay rights in this country.  She is a likable, positive, attractive person who has carried the lesbian banner with a great deal of style and grace — even when her coming out nearly destroyed her career.  The Ellen Show redeemed her, a huge success with legions of adoring fans, straight and gay.  Her sexuality is not front and center on the show, but she doesn’t try to pretend there’s not a lesbian in the room.  One of my all-time favorite Ellen Show moments was when First Lady Laura Bush and her just-married daughter Jenna appeared on the show earlier this year to promote their children’s book.  Talking to Jenna about the wedding, Ellen commented on the First Daughter’s ability to have a private wedding on the President’s Crawford, Texas ranch.  Ellen asked if she and Portia could have the ranch for their wedding.  Jenna immediately said yes, while her mother pursed her lips in an awkward smile.  That would have been something, wouldn’t it?

Ellen Degeneres deserves happiness and some semblance of privacy.  So congratulations to Ellen and Portia.  The only thing that could please me more was if I were in Portia’s shoes right now.

Your Momma Made You Gay (or Bisexual)

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, science has given us a new “You might be….” clue of queerness. A new study by researchers at the University of Padua in Italy uncovered the evidence, leading to genetic markers for bisexuality among men, according to a report published in The New Scientist.

• If your momma was a bit of a ho, you might be a bisexual man.
• If you have lots of brothers and sisters, you might be a bisexual man.
• If your mom’s sisters created enough cousins for you to fill a fundamentalist Mormon compound, you might be a bisexual (or gay) man.

That’s because bisexual men may be motivated by the same gene that makes their mothers really, really into guys. It’s what scientists have dubbed, “hyper-heterosexuality.”

Earlier studies by the same Italian team, led by Dr. Camperio Ciani, suggested that genes influencing sexual orientation in men also make women more likely to reproduce. The previous research showed that female relatives of homosexual men tend to have more children. That implies that the genes on the X chromosome are responsible for male homosexuality. Now the Italian team has shown that the same holds true for bisexuality in a paper published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.  Their findings showed that the mothers, grandmothers and maternal aunts of bisexual and gay men had more children than those same relatives of heterosexual men.  The presence of the unidentified genetic factor on the X chromosome affects a woman’s attitudes toward men.  While it would not impact her fertility, it would make it more likely for her to have more children. And it would make it more likely that her sons and nephews would be really, really into guys too.

California neuroscientist Simon LeVay (a somewhat controversial figure) weighed in on the research.  The “hyper-heterosexuality” label was his addition to the discussion.  In The New Scientist, LeVay suggested that the research from Italy could explain how homosexual behavior is passed on through the generations.  Apparently, some scientists assume that homosexuals don’t naturally procreate.  Apparently they aren’t familiar with closet cases, late bloomers, Sen. Larry Craig and turkey basters.