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Doogie Howser hosting Obama fundraiser, protest planned
Everybody’s favorite gay dad by surrogacy, Neil Patrick Harris, is slated to host the Obama LGBT fundraiser in New York City this evening. A protest for equality has been planned outside the Sheraton where it’s taking place.]]> -
Gays, grannies and grandes: Southwest pilot hates them all
Yes, it’s not funny, and yes, I laughed when they played the tape of the Southwest pilot trashing his cabin crew as gays, grannies and grandes. You have to give the guy points for alliteration.
From NBC Chicago:
Southwest Airlines was once well known for hiring only female flight attendants and dressing them in hot pants. At least one of its pilots apparently dislikes that it’s not like that anymore.
“Eleven f***ing over-the-top f***ing a** f***ing homosexuals and a granny. Eleven! I mean, think of the odds of that,” the unidentified pilot said during a March flight.
He was talking to his co-pilot after take off from Houston about his attempts at having a nightlife with Southwest Airlines crew members laying over in Chicago, a city he called “party land.”
The pilot labeled his Chicago-based flight crew as a “continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes.”
“So in six months I went to the bar three times; in six months, three times. Once with the granny and the f*g, and I wished I hadn’t gone,” he said.
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Guns and gays: ATF hosts first Pride event
Nothing says equality quite like alcohol, tobacco and firearms.
From the Examiner:
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Wednesday sponsored its first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month program at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. despite being embroiled in a controversial probe.
As part of the program, Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson provided remarks while
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) served as Wednesday’s keynote speaker.
The celebration was in recognition of the accomplishments and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans to ATF and the nation, and to promote awareness of the LGBT culture.
ATF works to ensure sexual orientation discrimination and prejudice are not tolerated in our workplace, said Melson.
“ATF is an equal employment opportunity environment where effective and equitable participation is encouraged. We are grateful that the Honorable Rep. Frank could share his experiences with our workforce as we celebrate diversity today,” he said.
Congressman Frank spoke about his experiences serving as an openly gay congressman for the 4th Congressional District of Massachusetts and his rise to Democrat stalwart status.
Continue reading on Examiner.com ATF hosts 1st Gay Pride observance despite scandal – National Law Enforcement | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/atf-hosts-1st-gay-pride-observance-despite-scandal#ixzz1Q6UfPMQW
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Being a man can be hazardous to your health
Men and women are different in a lot of ways, that’s pretty self-evident, and some of the differences are unhealthy. For instance, men socialize in different ways and deal with stress more destructively, such as drinking too much or smoking. It’s not enough to make me wish I wasn’t a man, but at this age it’s time to really pay attention to these things. I’d rather have another year than another cocktail.
From Times Live:
Men, here is what you can do to improve your odds and your health.
On June 22, science and tech magazine New Scientist reported that around 630,000 men die between the ages of 15 and 64 in Europe, compared with 300,000 women of the same age. Trends are similar in the US as well. Why? Experts cite bad lifestyle habits, such as smoking, drinking, and eating less healthfully, for example. Plus Alan White, lead author of The State of Men’s Health in Europe, published in July, told New Scientist that because men are socialised differently, they tend to react in more destructive ways when they find things difficult, such as becoming stressed, smoking, and drinking more. A big problem White cites is that many men lack services that could really come to their aid, such as health clinics open at times other than daytime working hours, or sporting activities available to men who work off-hours, such as restaurant workers or late-night taxi drivers, he said. If you’re male and have been neglecting your health, the first step is to start taking a personal interest in your health, especially preventative health, and then schedule an appointment with a doctor for a full physical examination. Talk about long-term health problems with your doctor, no matter how embarrassing or private, and be sure to ask questions about what tests and screenings are appropriate for your age, writes health website HealthDay.
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A toast to Rev. Pat Bumgardner, MCCNY/NY Pride grand marshal
I headed over to RF bar on Hudson Street after work to toast and fund raise for MCC New York. Our own beloved Rev. Pat is a co-grand marshal of this year’s NYC Pride parade. Frank and I can’t make it, as I have sisters from Mississippi coming to the Jersey house on Saturday, but we’ll be there in spirit. You can see my interview with Rev. Pat here.]]> -
VT Senator Bernie Sanders addresses senior hunger
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NY couple waited 61 years to marry – will one more day be it?
We should know by tomorrow. I’m not sure they can wait for another legislative session, let alone the time it will take to replace the no-votes.]]>
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Cops seek port-a-potty perp at Boulder yoga fest
Imagine going into a port-a-potty stall, never a pleasant experience to begin with, and there’s a face staring up at you from the tank. That’s what happened in Boulder, Colorado, during a yoga festival. The suspect slipped away.
From the HuffPost:
DENVER (Reuters) – Police in Boulder, Colorado were searching on Tuesday for a man who hid inside the tank of a portable toilet at a yoga festival, startling a woman who was using the facility.
The bizarre incident happened June 17 at the Hanuman Yoga festival in Boulder, a college town northwest of Denver.
The woman, who was not identified by authorities, said when she lifted the toilet seat lid, she noticed something moving in the tank, according to a Boulder Police news release.
The woman exited the toilet and asked a man who was standing nearby to check inside. The man told police he saw someone inside the tank covered with a tarp.
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Gay sports league in Oklahoma City open to all
There’s been some hand-wringing the last few years about how many, if any, straight people should be allowed to play on gay sports teams. A sports league in Oklahoma City has resolved that issue by welcoming everyone.
From News OK:
By Carrie Coppernoll 2
Published: June 22, 2011 Playing gay softball all started out as the biggest group effort ever to find our friend a date. This Sunday, we wrapped up our fifth year playing in the Sooner State Softball Association. Our team has a record as bad as the Chicago Cubs, but our friend has a boyfriend. Our team name this year was Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a tribute to hubbub about straight players in gay softball leagues. The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance, also known as NAGAAA, limits teams that enter the Gay Softball World Series to two straight players per team. Some organization officials didn’t want teams to bring in straight ringers. Like me. [SNIP] But at home, anyone can play, league Commissioner Jim Knox said.
“We believe that opening our league up to fair-minded people and having them play together knocks down stereotypes for both our community and the straight community as well,” he said. After five years, the core of our team is still straight people. Most are married. Some have children. The league assigns us a few extra players to fill our rosters, and most of them are gay people we don’t know.
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Seniors seeking alternatives as banks get out of reverse mortgage business
From Daily Finance:
Last week, Wells Fargo (WFC), the biggest name in the nation’s reverse mortgage market, announced that it was getting out of the business, citing concerns that housing prices could continue to erode further. That move followed in the footsteps of No. 2 reverse mortgage player Bank of America (BAC), which exited the business earlier this year. Combined, the two banking behemoths represented 43.6% of the reverse mortgage market, based on a 12-month trailing period ending in April, according to industry researcher Reverse Market Insight. But certified financial planners say it’s not the end of the world for cash-strapped seniors who want to stay in their homes. With financial finesse, in some situations, seniors may find non-bank solutions yield better results. John Lunde, president of Reverse Market Insight, doesn’t except a stampede of other reverse mortgage lenders will quit the business. He also notes that most of the other lenders hold much smaller slices of the market, with the exception of MetLife Bank, an affiliate of insurance behemoth MetLife (MET).
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Lytro camera promises digital photography revolution
A friend clued me into this, and I immediately tought of lgbtSr contributor KJOY. We’re both photographers (hers is on the professional side, mine’s a hobby). It’s a lot to digest about this new camera coming out, but something to keep a shutter – I mean eye – on.
From PC World:
With a new kind of camera, Lytro wants to remove the headaches of focus from digital photography. Lytro, a start-up based in the Silicon Valley, hopes to revolutionize the camera industry by bringing “light field” cameras to the market this year. This type of photography captures the color, intensity and direction of individual light rays, allowing the user to refocus the picture even after it has been taken. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Lytro’s founder and chief executive, Ran Ng, likened the technology to a multitrack audio recording, in which each instrument is recorded separately and mixed later. A blog post on Lytro demonstrates the concept with an interactive photo. Clicking anywhere on the picture changes the point of focus, causing other parts of the scene to blur into the background. A picture gallery shows more examples. Lytro also claims that its cameras work in low lighting without flash, and can produce 3D photos with a single lens. “We have something special here,” Ng wrote. “Our mission is to change photography forever, making conventional cameras a thing of the past.”]]> -
Pulitzer winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas comes out – as illegal immigrant
In a stunning confession that fits with his Pulitzer Przie-winning reporting, gay journalist Jose Antonia Vargas has come out as an undocumented immigrant – in the New York Times!
From the New York Times:
I decided then that I could never give anyone reason to doubt I was an American. I convinced myself that if I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would be rewarded with citizenship. I felt I could earn it.
I’ve tried. Over the past 14 years, I’ve graduated from high school and college and built a career as a journalist, interviewing some of the most famous people in the country. On the surface, I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream.
But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don’t ask about them. It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. And it has meant relying on a sort of 21st-century underground railroad of supporters, people who took an interest in my future and took risks for me.
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Chicago gay activist Roger “R.J.” Chaffin dies at 59
From CBS Chicago: CHICAGO (CBS) – A renowned businessman and community activist in Chicago’s gay community has died at the age of 59. Roger “R.J.” Chaffin died this past Friday after a short illness, the Windy City Times reported. Chaffin was inducted into Chicago’s Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1997. At that time, he was described as “one of Chicago’s most visible gay businesspersons for more than 25 years” who raised thousands of dollars for AIDS charities. Continue reading]]>
