The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) articles from December 2003

The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) archives from December 2003

Oh, the Zumanity.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 9, 2003... Thank you for your informative article about Johan and Patrick from the Vegas show Zumanity ["Cirque du So Gay," November 11]. I had the good fortune to see the show on its second night of performances and have to say it was fantastic. The...

Cage fight.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 9, 2003... I find it totally ironic that so many homophobic media types bash Siegfried and Roy as being, oh, so gay ["The Truth About Siegfried & Roy," November 11]. How many big, strong straight men do you know who would get into a cage with a 600-pound...

Bully pulpits.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 9, 2003... Finally, someone who isn't afraid to recognize religious beliefs as a cloak used by people to hide behind in order to justify hatred and intolerance ["When Religious Beliefs Are the Enemy," November 11]. It was so refreshing to read David Let's...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com.(The Advocate Poll)
December 9, 2003... * "Hell, yes! They are working overtime to push us back into the closet with all their hypocritical moralistic posturing. It's about time we pushed back--and hard!" * "It is time to consider class-action defamation lawsuits against some of...

Man the lifeboats.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 9, 2003... Thank you, Andrew Sullivan, for "A Call to Arms" [Last Word, November 11]. We need to wake up and realize just how harmful the Federal Marriage Amendment would be. In California we have struggled for a dozen years to, first, get domestic...

Guys and dolls.(my perspective)(gay photographer's work is censored at Shelton State Community College, Alabama)(Column)
December 9, 2003... I grew up in rural Alabama. Mom was divorced and was rarely home. I was skinny and a bit sensitive, so I was called "faggot" at school and "jenny woman" by my brothers. One way I found solace was to play with Ken and G.I. Joe dolls to escape...

Rants & raves.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... "For like six months, not a single thing happened [with men]. Not like they weren't drawn to me, but there wasn't a single real attraction. I'm like, 'What's happening? I know I'm not a lesbian.'" --Britney Spears, on her post--Justin...

Holding it together: the new gay Episcopal bishop predicts the Anglican Communion will not divide over homosexuality.(Religion)
December 9, 2003... The Anglican Communion and religion in general have been steeped in controversy and division for centuries. But according to V. Gene Robinson, whose November 2 consecration as the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop has church leaders...

Out candidates make good.(Election)(gay and lesbian political candidates)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Among significant wins for gay and lesbian candidates in the November 4 elections, Ron Oden's stood out. The Palm Springs, Calif., councilman won the city's mayoral race to become one of the first openly gay black mayors in the country....

Protest descends on Cirque.(The Nation)(protesters draw attention to Cirque du Soleil employee discrimination case)
December 9, 2003... Protesters gathered outside the San Francisco opening of Cirque du Soleil's Alegria on November 6 to launch a series of demonstrations against the Montreal-based company, alleging former acrobat Matthew Cusick was fired because he has HIV. The...

Rosie on the stand.(Litigation)(Rosie O'Donnell in court over demise of magazine in her name)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Fans of Rosie O'Donnell who have been following the bitter court battle over the demise of Rosie magazine have seen two sides of the popular entertainer revealed: one who appears callous in her business dealings, and another who offers...

Jacques goes national at HRC.(Leadership)(Cheryl A. Jacques leaves post as state senator, becomes executive director of the Human Rights Campaign)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... One of only 11 openly gay state senators in the country, Massachusetts's Cheryl A. Jacques will leave her post to succeed Elizabeth Birch as executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, when...

Friendly voters.(Initiative)(voters approve same-sex marriage registry, Cleveland Heights, Ohio)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Voters in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, became the first in the nation to show support for same-sex couples at the ballot box when 55% of them approved a domestic-partnership registry November 4. While city councils and state legislatures have...

Across the nation.(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Downers Grove, Ill. A gay music director, who was told by officials at First Presbyterian Church to resign or repent for not taking a vow of chastity, stepped down from his post in late October. Trenton, N.J. A Superior Court...

Transgender remembrance goes global.(The World)(gatherings in honor of transgendered people)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... As founder of the annual Day of Remembrance, a series of gatherings to publicly mourn the deaths of transgendered people, Gwendolyn Ann Smith has made it her mission to increase awareness of the mounting violence worldwide. And she's...

A big step for mental health: thirty years after homosexuality was declassified as a mental disorder, a gay man takes the helm of a major health association.(Behind the Headlines)(Mark Pope, American Counseling Association)(Interview)
December 9, 2003... The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973. Almost 30 years later, the American Counseling Association, a professional group with 52,000 members nationwide,...

Funding the crystal fight.(Drug Abuse)(San Francisco Department of Public Health invests in drug abuse prevention)(crystal methamphetamine)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... The abuse of crystal methamphetamine has been increasing in the gay population for years, and now officials with the San Francisco Department of Public Health are describing it as a public health crisis of epidemic proportions. In October they...

Inoculation for breast cancer?(Research)(Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., say a breast cancer vaccine, which uses genes from a key cancer protein, is showing promise in limited trials and could undergo full-scale testing within a few years. The...

Crisis averted in Chicago.(Outbreak)(bacterial meningitis outbreak handled effectively by city officials, Chicago, Illinois)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Chicagoans have praised the city for its handling of a bacterial meningitis outbreak among its gay residents in October. City officials quickly set up emergency clinics, distributed fliers and fact sheets, and vaccinated 14,267 people in eight...

"Ex-gays" want your R-E-S-P-E-C-T.(Far Right)(Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays launches public service advertising campaign)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... The members of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays aren't asking you to change your sexual orientation. They just want you to respect those who say they have, and they used a series of public service ads to get that message out. The...

Transitions.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
December 9, 2003... DIED: Frank Boudewyns, 56, founder and CEO of Alternatives Inc., a gay-focused chemical dependency program, of complications related to hepatitis C, October 26. APPOINTED: Eric Rodriguez, a longtime AIDS activist, as executive director for...

A lack of role models.(Generation Q)(author comments on lack of interaction between youth and adults in gay community)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... As a youth I have always searched for those adults who could help me to realize my potential. I have found teachers, counselors, and family members to be role models. But there have been few queer adults to look up to. Queer people seem to...

Not quite six feet under.(First-Person)(gay man diagnosed with weak vessel in his brain tells his story on magazine's Web site)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Years before Six Feet Under's Nate Fisher was diagnosed with a weak vessel in his brain, gay man Phil Boustani (left), at age 30, lived through a near-fatal stroke related to that condition. Read his survivor's story only on Advocate.com.

Kicked out of Canada.(Generation Q)(gay man denied entry into Canada from United States)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... When 23-year-old Justin Bain headed to Toronto to visit his boyfriend for Canadian Thanksgiving, the otherwise gay-friendly country refused to let him cross the border. An Advocate.com exclusive.

Bet on Celine.(Advocate Travel)(magazine's Web site includes review of pop singer Celine Dion's show in Las Vegas, Nevada)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... No gay traveler's trip to Las Vegas is complete these days without a visit to the most over-the-top show in town, "A New Day... " with Celine Dion. Michael Giltz offers a firsthand report, only at www.advocate.com/travel.

Tony Kushner: Man of the year: December 28, 1993.(From the Advocate Archives)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Ten years ago The Advocate celebrated playwright Tony Kushner--following the triumph of his Angels in America, now an HBO film featured in this issue. In the interview Kushner dismissed the suggestion that he had become a gay role model. ...

When Spooner met Stipe.(the Buzz)(musician Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner on his college relationship with REM front man Michael Stipe)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... FOR THE RECORD, The Buzz adores the musical collective Fischerspooner, even though in a recent newspaper interview cofounder Casey Spooner scoffed at The Advocate for daring to label him bisexual. "I can't comment on having a romantic" side,"...

Does anybody remember the real Reagan?(the Buzz)(television movie on former president Ronald Reagan not to be aired due to objections by conservatives)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... THANKS TO a conservative firestorm over a depiction of President Reagan's long-lamented imperviousness to the AIDS crisis, none of us is going to see The Reagans, at least for now. But The Buzz did speak to someone who got a peek: Barbra...

Love struck.(the Buzz)(former member of Boyzone Stephen Gately seen fighting with partner Andrew Cowles)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... "IT WAS JUST a tipsy bitch-slap situation," said Stephen Gately. And how. In mid October the former Boyzone member got beaten bloody by hunky hubby Andrew Cowles at London's celeb-studded restaurant the Ivy. Evidently exhaustion and alcohol...

Identity crisis: has the demise of the only national black gay advocacy organization in the United States created a troubling void or a promising frontier?(Activism)
December 9, 2003... When the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum announced in August that it had run out of money and was shutting its dooms, many black gay activists began asking, What do we do next? For the first time since 1988, when the group was...

Campus byways: bisexual students at several colleges say they face discrimination from campus gay groups. So now they're striking out on their own.(Education)
December 9, 2003... Despite what you may have heard, Khyla Barnes does not want to have a three-way with you. And frankly, she's sick of having to say so. Barnes, a 22-year-old senior at Indiana University in Bloomington, crone out as lesbian in the summer of...

Bi, bi, bi: in a new music anthology, bisexual artists raise funds to fight old ideas of who they are.(Sound Recording Review)
December 9, 2003... Bi the People * Various artists * Violent Yodel Benefit compilations are guilt trips waiting to happen. Each is a lilt-and-miss affair, and you silently pray that the hits outnumber the misses so you have a reason to hang on to it...

Faces of angels: conversations with the stars of HBO's Angels in America.(Interview)(Cover Story)
December 9, 2003... Tony Kushner's epic play Angels in America redefined how gays and people with AIDS Could be portrayed in drama: not as isolated victims but as robustly spiritual human beings, holy prophets, and profane power players; not disappearing from...

Lip service.(notes from a blond)(on public display of gay affection)(Column)
December 9, 2003... Straight guys who thumb through their girlfriend's copy of Playgirl--c'mon, there have got to be one or two women who read it--have often been known to close the magazine and pronounce with a certain authority that all the naked guys in there...

Big fish in the Hollywood pond: Oscar-winning producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen have netted a holiday must-see with Tim Burton's latest fantasia.(spotlight)(and gay anecdotes about currently showing movies)(Interview)
December 9, 2003... "Whether you're part of the "Here comes Santa Claus" crowd or you lean more toward "Bah, humbug," 'tis the season to head to the multiplex .for those A-list movies we adore. Gay content is slim this year, but The Advocate has combed the...

Not your average mogul: producer Jen Chaiken makes acclaimed--films both gay and otherwise--but for her, it's ultimately all about family.(Interview)
December 9, 2003... Jien Chaiken is the very model of the modern indie-film producer. Seated at a power desk in her spacious San Francisco office, she describes her latest project, My Flesh and Blood (directed by Jonathan Karsh), the Sundance award-winning...

Revenge of the nerds: Cambridge Spies and X2: X-Men United, both new on DVD, show how talented outsiders can mess with the status quo.(Video Recording Review)
December 9, 2003... Cambridge Spies * Written by Peter Moffat * Directed by Tim Fywell * Starring Toby Stephens, Tom Hollander, Rupert Penry-Jones, Samuel West * Warner Home Video * $34.98 X2: X-Men United * Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, David...

Which witch is wicked? A smart new musical turns The Wizard of Oz on its head with its tale of a good witch who knew too much.(Theater Review)
December 9, 2003... Wicked is that rarity, a Broadway musical with intellectual substance --even if it comes disguised as fairy-tale entertainment that pays satirical homage to The Wizard of Oz. Like. the book by gay novelist Gregory Maguire on which it is based,...

He's the fairest: like Wicked? Check this out, fairy tale fans.(gay author Gregory Maguire interprets Snow White legend)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Only the deliciously warped mind of out author Gregory Maguire (who wrote the novel Wicked, among others) could tease out a link between the apple that kills a fairy-tale princess and the legendary poisoning talents of the Borgia family. Set in...

Finding Nilo: the first Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, Nilo Cruz opens Anna in the Tropics in New York.(Interview)(Biography)
December 9, 2003... Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz has been perfecting his craft for 15 years and has 10 plays under his belt. But his life has changed completely since he won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in April. His play Anna in the Tropics beat out the...

Super Mario: from Sex and the City to turn-of-the-century city, Mario Cantone takes his sassy self onstage in The Violet Hour.(Interview)(Biography)
December 9, 2003... Best known as Charlotte's wisecracking stylist friend Anthony on Sex and the City, Mario Cantone is now playing a wisecracking publishing assistant in Richard Greenberg's new play, The Violet Hour, currently running on Broadway. Both characters...

Drag idol: Sydney's Shane Jenek was rejected by Australian Idol until he became Courtney Act. Now he's headed to the USA.(Interview)
December 9, 2003... If you think Clay Aiken transformed himself for American Idol, consider the tale of Australia's Shane Jenek. The 21-year-old Sydney resident entered Australian Idol--the Down Under version of the show--and failed to impress the judges enough to...

Buried treasures.(Six Feet Under: Better Living Through Death)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 9, 2003... Six Feet Under: Better Living Through Death * Edited by Alan Ball and Alan Poul * Melcher Media/Pocket Books * $30 Fans of Six Feet Under will no doubt go positively gaga for die new companion book, Six Feet Under: Better Living...

Show-tune kings: with cast albums ranging from Nine to the gay off-Broadway smash Zanna, Don't! life and business partners Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin make their PS Classics label a labor of love.(Interview)
December 9, 2003... For music producer Tommy Krasker and actor-singer Philip Chaffin, Broadway has gone to the dogs--specifically, to their pets Please, an Australian cattle dog, and Sumner, a bull terrier, for whom Krasker and Chaffin named their successful indie...

Punk punks: a new anthology traces punk's roots, gay and otherwise.(No Thanks!)(Sound Recording Review)
December 9, 2003... No Thanks! The '70s Punk Rebellion * Various artists * Rhino * $64.98 In its infancy punk rock was asexual, a response to the hyperhorny culture of gay disco that dominated the late 1970s. Yet it was that very distrust of sex that made...

For Men Only.(men's magazines)(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... The titles alone read like a 21st-century gay porn catalog: Climax; For Men Only; Man to Man; Rugged; Sir! But these and more than 100 other glossy monthly mags from the '50s, '60s, and '70s--also known as "armpit slicks," sold then on...

Play grounds.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... Original Youth: The Real Story of Edmund White's Boyhood * Keith Fleming * Green Candy Press * $19.95 Keith Fleming's first book was about growing up with and sometimes being parented by his uncle Edmund White. Good as it was, it was...

"Ex-gays" beware: the man who caught "ex-gay" John Paulk in a gay bar debunks the movement in a new book.(Anything but Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth)(Book Review)(Brief Article)
December 9, 2003... The "ex-gay" movement knows no more active nor ardent foe than Wayne Besen, the man who in 2000 caught "former" homosexual John Paulk in a dingy Washington, D.C., gay bar. Just this August, Besen exposed the shocking sexual practices of Michael...

Lessons learned at Harvey Milk High.(last word)
December 9, 2003... We took an elevator up to the second floor, past a security guard and video camera. We signed ourselves in with a picture ID before going up to the school. Charles Busch, myself, Kelli, and her mother, Melanie. The walls are brightly...

Chad's gift.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 23, 2003... Your story on Chad Allen was fantastic" ["His Grown-up Christmas List," November 25]. What a great role model he is for GLBT youth in our society! The fact that he unselfishly takes time out of his busy schedule to help kids who don't know...

Maternal instinct.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 23, 2003... Many thanks for reporting on Mian Carvin's attempts to regain access to her daughter ["What Makes a Mom," November 25]. Mian is like a sister to me, so I feel compelled to write. My partner and I were considered the child's godfathers at the...

Human issues.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 23, 2003... As a book editor who works with Taro Gold, I have had the privilege of learning from him a little of his Buddhist philosophy, a basic tenet of which is the interconnectedness of all people and all things, it is refreshing to see that principle...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com.(reader forum)
December 23, 2003... * "Ethically, partners should be entitled to custody rights. Legally, rights cannot be entitled without marriage or some legally binding agreement." * "Children are not property! No one is entitled to a child. However, if a positive...

Wrong said Fred.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 23, 2003... Benjamin Ryan's article "Free to Damn Matthew?" [At Issue, November 25] only points out the ridiculous dance of the far right in their attempts to disregard the rights of gay people. Free speech? Why not? If Fred Phelps wants to erect a...

No sad goodbyes.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 23, 2003... I wish I could say I will miss Norah Vincent, but I won't, at least not right now [Last Word, November 25]. I hope someday she will mature in her perspective and entertain the possibility that those things close to the hearts and minds of gay...

A Wisconsin tradition.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
December 23, 2003... Chris Bull wrote a wonderful article about the LGBT community becoming more active in local government ["Governing 101," October 28]. I was honored to be one of the many LGBT elected officials mentioned. However, there was an error in the...

The face of gay Puerto Rico.(my perspective)
December 23, 2003... Back in 1998, I did something no one else had ever thought to do in Puerto Rico: I announced my candidacy as the first openly gay man to run for public office--an at-large seat in the house of representatives. I was 23 years old, and I had...

Rants & raves.
December 23, 2003... "Right after I came out I got Entertainer of the Year from Entertainment .Weekly, and then right after that no one wanted to be entertained by me at all." --Ellen DeGeneres, as quoted by The New York Times, November 12 "I'm not gay....

Games over? A split between the Federation of Gay Games and the Montreal host committee leaves the 2006 Games in jeopardy and the ex-host city ready to go it alone.(Sports)
December 23, 2003... Financial troubles have plagued the Gay Games for years, but never before have they led to the cancellation of an event. But now a falling-out over financial control between the Federation of Gay Games and the committee hosting the 2006 games...

A jump on Massachusetts.(Media)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... More than a week before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its groundbreaking ruling in favor of gay marriage, the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign had already joined the media blitz. The group unveiled a $1 million national...

Promoted despite controversy.(Military)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... Maj. Gen. Robert T. Clark was commander at Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1999 when Pfc. Barry Winchell was bludgeoned to death by a fellow soldier who believed he was gay. But that wasn't reason enough to block Clark's promotion. Despite...

No "queers" allowed.(Lawsuit)(nonheterosexual advertisements)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... The once-pejorative term "queer" has for years been used by the gay community and in pop culture to positively describe things lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. But the state of New York apparently hasn't caught on. Officials there...

Friendly veto.(Wisconsin)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... Wisconsin was about to become the 38th state in the nation with a law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Then Gov. Jim Doyle got in the way. On November 7, Doyle, a Democrat, vetoed an antigay marriage bill passed by...

Presidential praise--but for what?(Religion)(Metropolitan Community Church)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... A letter sent by President Bush in October to the Metropolitan Community Church praising it in honor of its 35th anniversary didn't mention the church's work in support of gay marriage. But that was no surprise, church members said, because the...

Across the nation.(The Advocate Report)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... Bismarck, N.D. North Dakota's supreme court ruled November 13 that a lesbian couple's relationship was not a valid reason to deny them custody of two girls, despite the father's argument that the women's relationship provided "the wrong...

Transitions.(The Advocate Report)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... DIED: Stephen Bates, 50, an openly gay composer and musical director, of AIDS-related lymphoma, in Chicago, November 5. DIED: Gail Jacobson Lang, 52, a longtime lesbian activist, in Sacramento, of cancer, November 2. DIED: Martin...

The fire under Fierstein: afraid that a new generation of young gay men are falling victim to AIDS, Harvey Fierstein is taking matters into his own hands.(Behind the Headlines)
December 23, 2003... Harvey Fierstein has always been a fierce AIDS activist. But with recent studies showing increased HIV infection rates and reports of young gay men, actually going out to seek infection, the Broadway star says being fierce may not be enough....

Kissed off.(Greece)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... While TV stations in some countries face criticism for broadcasting displays of gay affection, those in Greece may face hefty fines. Mega, the country's number 2 station, was fined 100,000 Euros (U.S. $120,000) by the National Council of...

Olympic inclusion.(Switzerland)(Transsexual athletes)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... Transsexual athletes will now be eligible to participate in the Olympic Games under new rules being finalized by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland. "We will have no discrimination," IOC medical director Patrick...

From Iraqi soldier to Mr. Leather.(The World)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... While certainly something to celebrate, the naming of a new Mr. Leather Europe rarely makes international news--unless the titleholder is a former soldier in Saddam Hussein's army. Saad Hassoon, who represented Sweden, was crowned in Hamburg,...

Avis wants you.(Equality)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... Ten years ago Avis broke ground by recognizing domestic partners in its car rental policies. Now the company has embarked on a new ad campaign to remind gay consumers that Avis supports their issues. For every vehicle customers rent between now...

Off center.(Budget)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... According to recent reports, the economy is improving. But don't tell that to New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Community Center, the latest gay advocacy organization to struggle financially. In the last two months, the...

A different Episcopalian.(Generation Q)(Editorial)
December 23, 2003... I am a queer Episcopalian teenager, which has been interesting as the church deals with homosexuality. I have read articles on different views that people have on the ordination of Gene Robinson as the bishop of New Hampshire and on same-sex...

Massachusetts deja vu.(Marriage Rulings)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... In 1993 the top state court in Hawaii ruled in favor of gay marriage rights. In 1999 it happened in Vermont. Now it's Massachusetts. Read The Advocate's past coverage of these battles only at Advocate.com.

Taboo for you.(Theater Review)(Brief Review)(Theater Review)
December 23, 2003... Ignore the critics: The Broadway show Taboo has much to offer gay theatergoers in song and performances, including Boy George himself as Leigh Bowery (center). Read our review exclusively online.

Games we play.(Advocate Travel)
December 23, 2003... Planning to head to Montreal for Gay Games VII? You mat want to reconsider [see page 15]. How about returning to one of the Games' previous locations: Sydney, New York, or San Francisco? Find archived travel stories on these and other cities at...

Gay in the church: May 27, 1982.(From the Advocate Archives)(Brief Article)
December 23, 2003... The election of the Reverend V. Gene Robinson as the first openly gay Episcopal bishop has the country debating the inclusion of gay people in organized religion like never before. But the debate is an old one. Twenty-one years ago The Advocate...

Best dish of 2003: still cookin': as the year closes, we take a moment to check in with some of this year's brightest and buzziest.(the Buzz)
December 23, 2003... [thumbs up] GINA GERSHON drove us wild in Prey for Rock and Roll The uberdykon will be snarling on the small screen in April when IFC airs the six-part documentary currently known as the Untitled Gina Gershon Series. Executive producer...

Hit list on the Hill: insiders say a Capitol Hill "hit list" of controversial AIDS and sexuality researchers was circulated by mistake, but scientists actually on the list say it's further evidence that Congress is taking political potshots at their work.(Politics)
December 23, 2003... In a political era in which abstinence-only sex education is heralded as the best--and sometimes only--defense against the spread of HIV and AIDS, it's no surprise that scientists who do more blunt sex-related research are worried about their...

Fast times at Harvey Milk High: five arrests put the nation's only public high school for gay students back under the media spotlight.(Education)
December 23, 2003... It was a crime spree that police say started October 5 in New York City's West Village and ended a month later in the nearby Chelsea neighborhood. By the time it was over, five students from Harvey Milk High School were arrested and a...

Waiting at the altar: if the excitement of the Massachusetts marriage ruling didn't leave you light-headed, waiting another 138 days (from the date of this magazine might.(Marriage)
December 23, 2003... "There's only one way to read this, from my perspective," says Mary Bonauto the day after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rifled that it was unconstitutional to exclude gay couples from marriage. "We won the right to marry." ...

Person of the year: Bishop V. Gene Robinson.(Cover Story)
December 23, 2003... As the renewed debate over equal marriage rights has shown, at the root of all opposition to gay and lesbian rights lies religious conviction. In 2003 one gay man stood resolutely at the center of the contentious battle to shift religion away...

Men of the cloth: among the many Episcopalians who celebrated Robinson's consecration was the gay dad who created the vestments the bishop wears on the cover of this magazine.
December 23, 2003... As the Reverend V. Gene Robinson was preparing for his November 2 consecration as the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, he had a Brooklyn, N.Y., gay couple and their twin 3 1/2-year-old children on his mind. "He called us at 8 o'clock...

Rescuing Christ from the "Christians": V. Gene Robinson's installation as an Episcopal bishop was greeted largely by silence from gay quarters. Yet as Old Catholic Archbishop Bruce Simpson points out, the power of religion in the world remains unmatched in swaying public opinion and, more urgently, in damaging gay youth. Where is our pride--and our outrage?(Commentary)
December 23, 2003... More vividly than in any previous historical moment, elements of the Christian church are at war with anybody involved in promoting equal treatment for gay and lesbian people. The recent elevation of V. Gene Robinson to the clerical rank of...