Curve articles from March 2008

Curve archives from March 2008

The serious side of k.d.(Frankly Speaking)(K.D. Lang)(Editorial)
March 1, 2008... I've got big news this month: CURVE will soon be available at Albertsons and Lucky stores, so ask the store's manager for details. It's a huge feat for any independent magazine to make it into big grocery stores, and we want to make it...

Where do you land on the faith spectrum?(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... 52% I'm not religious but I'm spiritual. (And I sleep in on Sundays, too.) 25% I'm atheist/agnostic. (But I believe in all things lesbian.) 14% I worship every weekend. (And some weekdays, just to be on the safe side.)...

A rose is a rose.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Why does your magazine insist on using the words "sexual preference" over "sexual orientation"? I noticed this more than once. Who knew Victoria Brownworth had a humorous side? It was nice to see it in the "going green" issue ["How I Turned My...

Love for Melissa.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I have been reading CURVE since 1999, a subscriber since 2002, and an everyday member of curvemag.com since 2000. Today was a good day for me when I opened the envelope and I saw Melissa Etheridge on the cover of CURVE [Vol. 17, #10]. I read...

Great advice on coming out.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I absolutely loved your article about how to come out to your parents [Vol. 17, #8]! If only I would have read this article before ruining Mother's Day. Now that the very hard part is done, Mom can joke about it. I am debating how to tell them...

Clearing up a few things.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Thanks to you and Stephanie Schroeder for interviewing me. I write to correct and clarify, especially in relation to the last three questions of my interview [Vol. 17, #9]. I was never married to a French expatriate, but I did live with a...

Shimmy Coco bop.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... My girlfriend and I totally love CocoRosie. Ever write anything about them? You've given me great advice about other musical goddesses so check them out; you won't be disappointed. --Elerie Dial, via email Editor's Note: We did. The...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
March 1, 2008... Danye Voorheis did not win an L Word competition. The Twin Cities 20% Theater's website is tctwentypercent.org. The correct spelling of the homocidal lesbian of love is HotHead Paisan. Alexandra Bauermeister did not author the letter about...

Scene.(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... 1 Cheers with Carrie Belin, JD DiSalvatore, C. Fitz and Doria Biddle (left to right) at the GLAAD Media Circle Holiday Soiree 2 Colette Divine (left) with POWER UP's Lisa Thrasher at the 7th Annual Power Premiere Awards at the Beverly Hills...

Teresa Brazen.(Open Studio)
March 1, 2008... While employed as a communications manager at a nonprofit agency, Teresa Brazen went though a major life change. The suicide of a man she regarded as a mentor and father figure shook her to the core. "I made a promise to myself that I would...

Stockton gets a Pride Center.(Curvatures)(Stockton, California)
March 1, 2008... The San Joaquin Pride Center in Stockton, Calif., has officially joined the ranks of the 169 LGBT community centers in the United States. According to Board President LeJames Melton, last year's August opening was long overdue. "I was born...

Homos for Hillary.(Curvatures)(Hillary Clinton )(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... No matter what your political affiliation, there's no denying Hillary Clinton is one hell of a ball-breaker. Thank God someone is finally capitalizing on that fact with the Hillary Nutcracker, a replica of Hillary in her smarty pantsuit and,...

Sippin' on the big easy.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Absolut has unveiled a new limited edition line of flavored vodkas named after and inspired by cities from around the United States, and the first choice was New Orleans. Infused with mango and spiced with black pepper, this liquor has a...

Building workplace equality.(Out in Front)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Louise Young, a senior software engineer at Raytheon Company in Plano, Texas, got involved in workplace activism back when most companies didn't even recognize sexual orientation or gender identification as part of their EEO policies--never...

Finding the night life online.(Out in Front)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... When she was in her early 20s, Beth McGurr took to the road hoping to expand her own personal horizons. She soon realized that there wasn't much nightlife for lesbians in most places, and that the clubs that did exist were often hard to find....

Money makes changes.(Out in Front)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Every cause needs financial support, and Katherine Acey is not afraid to ask for it. With 40 years of civil rights activism under her belt, and as executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice for the past 20, Acey...

A taste of the rainbow.(Curvatures)(lesbians as calendar models)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Amber Rose McDowell, the 25-year-old CEO and founder of the Sacramento, Calif.-based Skittle* Project, is not just an ordinary entrepreneur. She's taken the tired idea of the pinup-girl calendar and made it something refreshingly lesbian. ...

Remembering a literary giant.(Curvatures)
March 1, 2008... Jane Rule woke me up. When I was in my teens, in the 1960s, I despaired over writing about my life or lesbians. I wrote poetry without pronouns and fiction I couldn't share. Later, in the mail, I received from Barbara Grier, then editor of...

Advocates for better LGBT healthcare.(Curvatures)(lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual)
March 1, 2008... LGBT people have dramatically higher risks for many types of cancer and often avoid heath screenings, according to Liz Margolies, LCSW, the original coordinator of the Lesbian Cancer Initiative. These higher risks are associated with...

She said, she said.(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... "Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common." >>Dorothy Parker "I became a lesbian out of devout Christian charity. All those women out here praying for a man, and I gave them my share." >>Rita Mae Brown "I resent like hell that...

Just for the record: some ladies clear up rumors, but others create more buzz.(Lesbofile)
March 1, 2008... Musicians know how to party like rock stars, both onstage and off. This month, a roundup of gossip in the pink music world. Reading and Rocking Who knew that Carrie Brownstein, a former member of the now-disbanded Sleater-Kinney, could...

Lesbian singer Danielle Egnew.(MORE TIDBITS)
March 1, 2008... Lesbian singer Danielle Egnew won Best Keyboardist--Pop/Alternative Glam and a People's Choice Award at the All Access Music Awards last November.

CBS News on Logo.(MORE TIDBITS)
March 1, 2008... The first-ever, half-hour gay news show, CBS News on Logo, will now air weekly on Mondays at 7 p.m. EST/PST and stream on 365gay.com. Chagmion Antoine is one of the featured correspondents.

A London man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple is being forced by the government to pay child support.(MORE TIDBITS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A London man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple is being forced by the government to pay child support, even though he has no legal rights to nor has he ever been involved with the two children.

Lesbo fave feminist mag Bitch was awarded a grant worth nearly $6,000 through the Regional Arts and Culture Council for an expanded Noir issue to be released in December.(MORE TIDBITS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Lesbo fave feminist mag Bitch was awarded a grant worth nearly $6,000 through the Regional Arts and Culture Council for an expanded Noir issue to be released in December. The issue will feature a metallic inked cover, a 16-page color section...

Blue Diamond.(MORE TIDBITS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... The largest LGBT group in Nepal, Blue Diamond, is warning the government that it will conduct mass protests if the harassment and arrests of gay and transgender people don't stop. The police arrested 26 transgender people in one raid alone last...

The first national LGBT conference in Brazil will take place May 9-11.(MORE TIDBITS)(Conference news)
March 1, 2008... The first national LGBT conference in Brazil will take place May 9-11. The conference will propose guidelines for public policies, citizenship and human rights.--KP

It's the ENDA the world as we know it.(Curvatures)
March 1, 2008... Krystal Etsitty worked as a bus driver for the Utah Transit Authority until she was fired for using women's public restrooms. The UTA considered her a liability because she might make other patrons uncomfortable. But no complaints were ever...

Intimate Leibovitz exhibit on tour.(Curvatures)(Annie Leibovitz )(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz reveals the intimacies of her life through photographs in an international exhibit, "Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005," at art museums across the globe this year. Leibovitz opened up about...

What's hot: hip greeting cards.(Curvatures)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Cute thank you cards, or really any cute cards, are hard to find--especially if you have no patience for the standard sentimental fare. When you care enough to send the very best, check out Naughty Betty (naughtybettyinc.com). With their...

The almighty lavender dollar.(Curvatures)
March 1, 2008... It is not just through protests that people become activists and advocates. How money is spent makes a significant impact on the economy. And it's quite clear that lesbians are very aware of the impact their money can have on a business. ...

Calling all femmes.(Lipstick & Dipstick)(Column)
March 1, 2008... Dear Lipstick and Dipstick: I'm 16 and only attracted to feminine women. Where is the best place to meet femmes? And if a butch asks me out, how can I just say no?--Focused on Fondling Femmes Lipstick: Focused fondler, some of us are only...

A spring fling?(Astro Grrl)
March 1, 2008... Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20) Sex: There is a flattering pink light shining on you through March, Pisces. You look gorgeous, but, of course, that's all external. Work to improve on all surfaces and levels. Career: Senior staff sits up and...

Out of sight, not out of mind: going the distance when you live far apart.(Relationships)
March 1, 2008... When your super-jealous girlfriend lives one state away and rants the cliche "out of sight, out of mind" as she burns all of your emails on the front lawn, she isn't embracing the fact that this adage was coined before the days of...

The long wait for those three words: why wouldn't her sorry butt just say she was sorry?(Dyke Drama)
March 1, 2008... "Love means never having to say you're sorry." That is what Ali McGraw said in the movie Love Story. She was wrong--hot, but still wrong. It was the '70s and she was heavily medicated and terminally heterosexual. Love means saying you're...

The heart of the matter: fat is a feminist issue. Then again, so is heart disease.(Politics)
March 1, 2008... Valentine's Day helps break up the awfulness of winter and the long, dismal period between New Year's and spring. It gives us a reason to shower our lovers with gifts. As Valentine's Day approached, hearts were ubiquitous. ...

Lutheran church ordains lesbian.(IN THE NEWS)(Jen Rude )(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A Lutheran church in Chicago ordained 27-year-old lesbian Jen Rude as a minister without making her take the vow of celibacy required by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Rude called the vow, requisite only for homosexual...

Bill gives same-sex couples IVF access.(IN THE NEWS)(Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, in vitro fertilization)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A Catholic clergyman is having a tizzy in England over the thought of lesbian couples having children through--gasp!--in vitro fertilization. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said in a letter to The Times of London that the Human...

Transgender victims honored nationwide.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... Vigils were held in 250 cities last November in honor of the ninth annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. The event, which began in San Francisco in 1999, is held to memorialize people killed by anti-transgender violence. While the FBI...

Hate crimes in U.S. up by 8 percent.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... FBI statistics released in late 2007 show 1,195 instances of hate crimes in which the perpetrator's motivating factor was the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation. Instances of hate crimes based on sexual orientation changed only...

Same-sex couples playing house.(IN THE NEWS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... A report released in November 2007 by the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law states that the number of same-sex couples shacking up in the U.S. quadrupled...

Touchy-feely queers: with Feeling Backward, heather love may just be "the next Judith Butler.".(Interview)
March 1, 2008... WITH THE SURNAME Love, this University of Pennsylvania prof was easy prey for a sarcastic Wall Street Journal editorial that attacked her courses on gender and sexuality for "having zilch to do with English lit." Luckily, her students know...

Degrassi: the next "lesbian" generation; A teen show takes on real issues.(Interview)
March 1, 2008... Degrassi: The Next Generation is the most watched domestic drama series in Canada, and the highest rated show on Nickelodeon's The N in the United States. Degrassi, often described as a cult classic, garners rave reviews from critics for its...

Write for your rights: author Nicola Griffith's fight for her residency.
March 1, 2008... Nicola Griffith is officially here "in the national interest," according to the U.S. State Department--or at least that's what her green card used to say. Griffith, who was born in Yorkshire, England, published her first novel, the sci-fi...

Home James: Alaska's got one hot rocker chick.(Jasper James)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... If you've seen Shortbus--the 2006 John Cameron Mitchell film where art, self-consciousness and homosexual hedonism converge in an underground Brooklyn utopia--you've heard the work of Jasper James. With the now-disbanded Jetset, genderqueer...

Long live: the Lang Thang; The queen of croon is all grown up. Now k.d. lang dishes on her newfound serenity, monogamy and love of six years.
March 1, 2008... I notice k.d. lang is just about my size, perhaps a bit more broad-shouldered and with a very handsome, square jaw line. But all and all, we are just two dykes with short, dark hair. We both stand 5 feet 8 inches or so. We're in jeans and...

Making a small difference in the world: in central Vietnam, a single-parent family finds purpose.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)
March 1, 2008... THE YOUNG children, barely able to conceal their anticipation, stood shoulder-to-shoulder across the cement steps of the Tam Ky Baby Orphanage, straining to see us, the new pale-skinned volunteers tucked into an aging white Fiat. Our first...

Girls in every port: a new site that will help you find the ladies.
March 1, 2008... TANYA CHURCHMAN, a lifelong traveler, was fed up with the scarcity of travel sites catering exclusively to lesbian and bisexual women, so in September 2007 she launched Girlports (girlports.com). Maybe the best thing to happen to travel since...

Ditching it all: what we learned on the road.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)(Personal account)
March 1, 2008... IMAGINE: NO CAREER, no house, no debt, no timelines, just the open road and adventure waiting around every corner. That's the life my partner and I have created for ourselves. We are living our dream of traveling the world; not in high style,...

So many tearooms, so little time.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)
March 1, 2008... TEA IS THE NEW WINE. It's almost as complex, and after visiting a few of London's top tearooms you will start to detect nuances. If you're one of those women who as a little girl hosted imaginary tea parties, this is a dream vacation. The...

Golf around the globe: greens you'll adore.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)
March 1, 2008... GOLF WAS ONCE just for the good ol' boys. But the game has changed, and lesbian players are now at the front of the field. In addition to St. Andrews in Scotland (where some say the game was originally played) and the can't-miss classics in...

Destination Barbados: sea turtle swim.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)
March 1, 2008... YOU'VE MET THE woman of your dreams. You want to get away to an idyllic spot, but you've already done Cancun and Cabo. How about Barbados? It's a lover's hideaway, and the wildlife here is the kind you don't want to go extinct. We were in...

Tracking down the other Potter.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)(Beatrix Potter)
March 1, 2008... WHO KNEW that children's book author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, the woman beloved by legions of lesbians for her book The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was also an acclaimed mycologist who painted nuanced watercolors of fungi? Who knew that...

All aboard: the big gay cruise ship.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)(Personal account)
March 1, 2008... FOR THE FIRST hour of our 2007 cruise video, it's Heather and me on the balcony of the suite she's sharing with her girlfriend Haviland Stillwell (my best friend) on the Norwegian Dawn. We're bubbling with vodka tonics and sticky happiness, and...

Heading up to Whistler.(TRAVEL WITH A PURPOSE)(Personal account)
March 1, 2008... SOME 2 MILLION people visit Whistler, British Columbia, every year. Most of these travelers--many of them gay and lesbian--go for its world-class skiing; the picturesque resort village and neighboring Blackcomb Mountains are consistently ranked...

The journey of Batwoman: DC introduces super dykes.(DC Comics Inc.)
March 1, 2008... AFTER DECADES of almost-super lesbians, civilian dykes, hinted homosexual heroines and Comet--who is a gay girl when she's a civilian, a straight male when in super-hero mode, and used to be a horse--DC Comics has finally given us our very own...

Runaway romance; My comic book relationship: can it be saved?
March 1, 2008... I love comics. So when I started a relationship with a non-geek in January, I immediately set about the task of finding the perfect introductory comic for her. My first thought, not wanting to start her on the harder stuff, was the...

Triangles and triptychs: these arty flicks pose questions about life, love and the universe.(Movie review)
March 1, 2008... Strangers, sisters, rivals, lovers and others: The women of these three indie films search for, stumble upon, resist and explore one another in scenarios that tend toward the complicated. Vivere (Regent Releasing): Three German women of...

Linda Stein.(Q+A)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... The sculptor Linda Stein may be best known as one of the "commoners" duped by Sacha Baron Cohen in his 2006 film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan--and for writing and giving interviews about...

Skip the gym, work out at home.(fitness videos)(Brief article)(List)
March 1, 2008... You promised yourself you are going to get fit but haven't done it? Take your pick, take the plunge and try something new. Leslie Sanson's Walk Slim 4 Fast Miles (Walk Productions): There are no excuses. You can do a fast four-mile walking...

Carla Blake.(Q+A)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... British author Carla Blake has written her first novel, Protection, about a lesbian bodyguard and a budding starlet's love affair that faces more than one threat. I chatted with Blake about the craft of writing a mystery-romance novel, how...

Self-made women: these intrepid authors skipped the big publishers and broke out on their own.(self-published lesbian books )(Brief article)(Book review)
March 1, 2008... Sometimes it's the little, self-published lesbian books that interest us, and they do so without expensive covers, marketing budgets, websites, or even rigorous copyediting. Here are a few that caught our attention in the recent months. ...

In her fantasies.(fantasy books about women)(Brief article)
March 1, 2008... In Alaya Dawn Johnson's debut novel, Racing the Dark (agatepublishing.com), women have all the power and girls call the shots. Why the matriarchal society? "I've always been interested in writing fantasy stories about women," says Johnson....

Their personal best: a superstar and two sophomores showcase their finest work yet.(Sound recording review)
March 1, 2008... Though they are at different points in their musical careers, Garrison Starr, Ani DiFranco and Nicky Click have all put out strong albums in recent months that show them at their best. Starr, after a string of underperforming CDs for various...

Mara Levi.(Q+A)(Interview)
March 1, 2008... With the release of her second album, What Are You?, and her award-winning "The Homo Song," Mara Levi (maralevi.com) is creating her own niche in the music market. This multitalented artist presents not only the captivating vocals but also a...

All tied up: some scarves help a former hippie open up.(alternative therapy)
March 1, 2008... I grew up in a house of therapists--my father used psychodrama to help Vietnam vets and my mother worked with students with behavioral disorders. Many of our other co-op members were Buddhist and trans-personal psychologists. What I'm saying...

Top ten: reasons we love Kelly McAlister.
March 1, 2008... If in the straight world there's something about Mary, in the lesbian world there's definitely something about Kelly McAlister. One of the most charming women you'll ever meet, the former co-host of My58's Sunday night show Garage Cinema is...