The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) articles from February 2004

The Advocate (The national gay & lesbian newsmagazine) archives from February 2004

Holy man.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... Thank you for the inspirational interview with Bishop Robinson ["Person of the Year: Bishop V. Gene Robinson," December 23]. As an Episcopalian in the diocese of South Carolina, a diocese that has been in the forefront of opposition to his...

Voices carry.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... In your December 23 issue, Archbishop Bruce Simpson writes that "no gay leader with a national platform... rose to congratulate New Hampshire Episcopalians for electing an openly gay bishop and for weathering the storm that followed"...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com.(The Advocate Poll)
February 3, 2004... SPONSORED BY SUBARU In the December 9 issue, readers were asked: Should gay and lesbian groups on college campuses be more inclusive of bisexual members? Yes 83% No 12% Undecided 5% Note: Table made from...

Disturbing studies.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... Even more disturbing than the "scientific McCarthyism" that lies behind the recent interference in federally funded research on AIDS ["Hit List on the Hill," December 23] is its timing. In several of the populations these projects seek to...

It's a wonderful life.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 3, 2004... As an older gay man, I was very pleased with Christopher Rice's comments in your December 23 Last Word. Not only am I not 35 and buff, I "also live in rural America. Additionally, I am the father of two gay children. It is refreshing to see...

Kicked out of America.(my perspective)
February 3, 2004... I met my partner nine years ago in a park in front of the Bolshoi theater, just yards from Red Square. A mutual friend introduced us. I was in Moscow working for a U.S. computer networking company; Abakar was a teacher of English in a local...

Rants & raves.
February 3, 2004... "It is now legal in Massachusetts, and Matt and I have set a date of New Year's Day in Provincetown. Be there! We registered at the gayadvocate.com. Log on!" --Ben Affleck (below, right, with Matt Damon), answering the question "Are you...

Censoring history: the National Park Service has reportedly reversed a decision to edit gay images out of a Lincoln Memorial video. But history may still be altered.(Politics)
February 3, 2004... Are the nation's historical records of the gay rights struggle being threatened by political ideology'? It appears that was the case in a tussle over the content of an eight-minute video shown to tourists at the Lincoln Memorial. Under...

Can Mass. dodge marriage?(Legislation)(equal marriage rights)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... A year ago it might have seemed that only a remarkable turn of events would have had conservative lawmakers in Massachusetts clamoring to pass a civil unions bill. But that's what's happening now in response to the Massachusetts supreme...

Winning black support.(Activism)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... A learned by an apparently widespread backlash by African-Americans against the Massachusetts supreme judicial court's ruling hi favor of same-sex marriage, the nation's black gay activists quickly came together. "Quite frankly, what we're...

San Francisco loses a pioneer.(Obituary)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 3, 2004... Widely credited with helping organize San Francisco's gays into a powerful political force in the 1970s, Bob Ross, 69, died December 10 of complications from diabetes, in 1971, Ross and a friend launched the Bay Area Reporter, the first gay...

Licenses for all.(Marriage)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Gay and lesbian couples who schedule a wedding at South Church, a Unitarian Universalist church in Portsmouth, N.H., can now fill out a marriage certificate designed from the template used for heterosexual couples. And even though Portsmouth...

Across the nation.(The Nation)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Sacramento, Calif. A superior court judge on December 18 denied a request for a preliminary injunction against the state's groundbreaking new domestic-partnership law. The law, which tares effect January 1, 2005, still faces two separate...

Prime minister's peril.(Peru)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Though she denied widespread Rumors that she is a lesbian, it was too late for Peruvian piano minister Beatriz Merino, who was fired by President Alejandro Toledo on December 12. Merino, a Harvard-trained lawyer mad the first woman appointed to...

"Bad wurds" in Louisiana: a lesbian mom faces a defiant school board after her young son is punished for telling his classmates that she is gay.(Behind the Headlines)
February 3, 2004... Outraged that her 7-year-old son, Marcus McLaurin, was punished for telling his classmates that she is gay, Sharon Huff, 27, of La Fayette, La., turned to the American Civil Liberties Union for help. They demanded that school officials...

Big flu season alarming.(HIV/AIDS)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Medical experts are describing this as the worst flu season in decades for people with weak immunity. And HIV-positive people, who are among those most endangered by flu-related complications, are being urged to get their share of a short...

Networking better than a split.(Episcopal Church)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Threats of a schism have rocked the Episcopal Church USA since fire November consecration of an openly gay man, V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire, but no real split is in sight. Instead, a group of conservative bishops decided in...

The closet leads to hepatitis.(Health Care)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Gay men who are reluctant to come out to their doctors could wind up with a serious but preventable liver disease, according to a new study by the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. Because of their sexual practices, many gay men are at...

Transitions.(The Advocate Report)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... DIED: L. Joel Martinez, 50, a longtime gay activist and founding director of the Center for AIDS in Houston, of complications from AIDS, November 12. DIED: Riyad Wadia, 36, a gay Indian filmmaker who broke ground by dealing with...

A chorus of growth.(Generation Q)
February 3, 2004... In the audience I saw only silhouettes as my friends and I took the stage at Carnegie Hall last June. There was a queasiness in my stomach as the French lyrics that once seemed so difficult humbled from my mouth. When I left the stage I was...

A call to arms.(First-Person)
February 3, 2004... With the coming out of three high-ranking retired military men [see pare 26], openly gay ex-Army officer Jeff Cleghom (pictured) asks, Where's the rest of us? Read his impassioned call to all GLBT ex-military personnel to come out, come out,...

Family affair.(Silver Screen)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Out indie filmmaker Cheryl Dunye (left) debuted her first mainstream comedy, My Baby's Daddy, in January. Catch up with Cheryl only on Advocate.com.

From Philly to France.(Advocate Travel)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... On February 15, gay-friendly Philadelphia's Museum of Art debuts an amazing exhibit of late--19th-century French works titled "Manet and the Sea." Advccate Travel visited both Philly and the sites in France where Manet, Monet, and others...

The Advocate's first candidate poll: October 28, 1970.(From the Advocate Archives)
February 3, 2004... While the candidates in this year's election rash to state their positions on gay rights, 33 years ago the Advocate's first ever survey of politicians produced a very different story. Of the more than 300 California candidates polled, only 35...

Bridget's new jones.(the Buzz)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... HAS BRIDGET JONES been keeping some secrets from her diary? The Buzz has learned that Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the upcoming sequel to the 2001 lilt film starring Renee Zellweger (above, left) as a 30-something Brit in pursuit of love...

CSI, but not g-a-y.(the Buzz)(crime Scene Investigation)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... OUT ACTOR GERALD MCCULLOUCH (right) was pleased as pathologist punch when he was told by his produce is at CSI: crime Scene Investigation that his recurring character, ballistics whiz Bobby Dawson, was going to be revealed to be gay. "It's...

Danny and Paul: blurred no more.(the Buzz)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... ONE OF TV'S greatest gay Mysteries--the hidden face and identity of the Army officer in love with Danny Roberts of MTV's the Real World--was finally revealed on December 29 when the cable network aired Out in the Real World. Patti Dill, an Army...

General's orders: exclusive interview: retired four-star general Wesley Clark thinks "don't ask, don't tell" needs to go and same-sex unions are here to stay. Can these pro-gay positions win him voters' support--and the Democratic presidential nomination?(Campaign 2004)(Interview)(Cover Story)
February 3, 2004... It has been more than 10 years since a Democrat from Little Rock, Ark., first took on the military's ban on gay service members, winding up with a compromise that was quickly dubbed "don't ask, don't tell." Now another Democrat from Little Rock...

Candidates for marriage: only three major Democratic candidates for president support full marriage rights for same-sex couples: Dennis Kucinich, Carole Moseley Braun, and Al Sharpton. So why don't more gay voters support them?(Campaign 2004)
February 3, 2004... When are some people's equal rights less equal than others'? Judging by the race for the Democratic nomination for president, equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans--for which all nine candidates express some level of support--don't usually...

Once upon a time in New York.(minority retortge)
February 3, 2004... "New York City, 1985. What was that like?" my boyfriend asks. We've just finished watching Angels in America, and I sense that for him its situations and environment are truly terra incognita. He can't help it: When I was a junior at New York...

Going where no two boys have gone before: on children's TV, Canadian drama Degrassi: The Next Generation boldly explores gay themes by having a major teen character come out--and fall in love with a classmate.(television)
February 3, 2004... Adamo Ruggiero and John Bregar--17 and 18, respectively--are giving their first major interviews about their roles as gay teenage boyfriends on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. Bregar, tall and fair with wavy blond hair that...

A barb is a sharp implement: Jim David, one of the comics showcased on Comedy Central's new Out on the Edge, talks about surviving gorilla suits, mafiosi, and the nasty barbs on Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn.(television)
February 3, 2004... After 17 years as a standup comic--on TV, in nightclubs, and occasionally on gay cruises--Jim David gets recognized on the street almost every day. "This morning I went into a coffee shop," says the out Manhattanite, "and the counter guy...

Queer stages, coast to coast: planning a winter or spring getaway to New York or San Francisco? Both cities offer a terrific early harvest of gay and lesbian theater.(theater)
February 3, 2004... Gay and lesbian theater-goers can find stage fare of interest all year round in any major American city. For early 2004, however, we found particularly strong lineups in the two cities that have been the historical centers of American queer...

Mormon fuzzy: the circuit-boy-meets-Mormon romance Latter Days is sweet, sexy, and affecting.(Movie Review)
February 3, 2004... Latter Days * Written and directed by C. Jay Cox * Starring Wes Ramsey, Steve Sandvoss, Jacqueline Bisset * TLA Films Of the current, glut of movies about gay Mormons--OK, there are two, but it seems like a glut--only one will make you...

Book of Days: what can readers expect from Latter Days, the book? Author T. Fabris gives a quick preview.(books)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... It's not every day that a gay movie gets a novelization, but Latter Days has a special luster thanks to writer-director C. Jay Cox, who proved he could wow us big-time with his script for the 2002 Reese Witherspoon hit film Sweet Home Alabama....

Who's your daddy? Anime feature Tokyo Godfathers puts a fresh spin on the old trio-adopts-a-foundling story.(Movie Review)
February 3, 2004... Tokyo Godfathers * Written by Keiko Nobumoto * Directed by Satoshi Kon * Starring Yoshiaki Umegaki, Toru Emori, and Aya 0kamoto * Samuel Goldwyn Films Three oddballs who were never meant to be parents suddenly find themselves exploring...

Outback ennui: despite Toni Collette, Japanese Story is crushingly dull.(Movie Review)
February 3, 2004... Japanese Story * Written by Alison Tilson * Directed by Sue Brooks * Starring Toni Collette * Samuel Goldwyn Films Any big-screen love story worth its weight in schmaltz requires not only two great romancers but also a great wedge that...

Sex, drugs, gay men, and Carrie Fisher: the unsinkable actress-author, whose gay superagent husband left her for another man, talks about getting it all down on paper in her funny and forgiving new novel.(books)
February 3, 2004... "Suzanne Vale had a problem... She'd had a child with someone who forgot to tell her he was gay. He forgot to tell her, and she forgot to notice." So begins The Best Awful (Simon and Schuster, $24), author Carrie Fisher's just-released fourth...

The time warp, again: a punk-flavored Rocky Horror tribute album captures the subversive sexiness of the original.
February 3, 2004... The Rocky Horror Show will forever be one of the more fascinating, if sometimes weird, queer-conscious entries in pop culture. At the time of its 1975 introduction it forged sexual imagery that would not likely pass muster during these more...

Stars in his eyes: photographer Michael Childers mounts a retrospective of his A-list oeuvre--and recalls his long relationship with late filmmaker John Schlesinger.(art)
February 3, 2004... "Sissy Spacek, Christopher Walken, Richard Gere, Eric Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Shelley Duvall, John Travolta. They were [about] 23 years old!" Such is the good timing of Michael Childers, the celebrity photographer who was also the life partner...

Xorin the magnificent: Los Angeles designer Xorin Balbes creates extraordinary homes and "shares the wealth" by hosting parties for gay causes.(culture)
February 3, 2004... Throughout our conversation, Xorin Balbes wonders how his life can possibly be squeezed into one short article--and rightfully so. The condensed version is this: A gay man in his mid 20s, highly successful as a manufacturer of window...

Pay-for-gay content: start-up services Sirius OutQ satellite radio and Here Pay-Per-View offer queer programming for paying customers--and have big plans for 2004.(media)
February 3, 2004... Two new entertainment services targeted at the gay and lesbian market are off and running: Satellite talk radio service Sirius OutQ started broadcasting on April 14, while Here Pay-Per-View launched on August 29 and plans a dramatic expansion...

Civil unions: the radical choice.(left hook)
February 3, 2004... All the leading Democratic candidate--including Howard Dean--have come out against same-sex marriage, supporting civil unions as a moderate alternative. The great irony is that civil unions aren't actually a moderate choice. On the contrary,...

Postcards: letters from readers.
February 3, 2004... I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for such a needed publication. I have read it from cover to cover twice and am about to go through it again. It fills a void. Since I prefer not to use the traditional travel agent service, the issue...

Finding the accordionist.(editor's letter)(Editorial)
February 3, 2004... The moment my partner, Mac, and I stepped from our rented Peugeot, we heard the accordion. Mac asked if the music was being piped over loudspeakers for mood and effect for visitors like us to the tiny French town. But the alluring scales and...

Massachusetts: state of our union.(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)
February 3, 2004... The Pilgrims first landed in Provincetown, the narrow strip of land at the tip of Cape Cod, Mass., before sailing to Plymouth Rock. This quaint enclave of gay men, lesbians, artists, writers, Portuguese fishermen, tourists, and old-money New...

Let's rock.(Bahamas)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Harbour Island is receiving major buzz as the new Bahamian hot spot and a gay couple is at the nexus of the transformation, J. Wallace Tutt and his partner, Don Purdy, have renovated a property that includes the historic early 1940s Rock House...

Homomonument.(Amsterdam)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Amsterdam's Homomonument, a triangular granite memorial built in 1987 and the world's only site that addresses the persecution of gays throughout history, has received a 400,000-euro facelift, During its planning in the '70s, groups feuded over...

First-class sass.(Goods To Go)
February 3, 2004... Luxury--like life, joy, and God--is in tile details. So for those epic flights to Paris or Pattaya, many airlines ease the discomfort by offering amenity kits to keep you happy and beautiful. Here are our favorite first-class kits from four...

Lounging Laos.(Table Tops)
February 3, 2004... A gay couple running an authentic gourmet French restaurant in a tint city in... Laos! How does this happen! First, the couple--Gilles Vautrin and Yannick Upravan--are themselves French, Gilles by birth, Yannick by immigration (his parents...

Rangers to the rescue.(Inn Focus)
February 3, 2004... Christopher Nixon and ion Gerster Jr met each other in Yellowstone National Park, where they were both park rangers Nixon still associates the year they met--1994--with the fact that wolves had just been reintroduced to the Wyoming park....

Satisfying wanderlust.(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Without a real live person on hand to answer specific travel questions, the Internet can be a dead end. The International Gay & Lesbian World Travel Expo, with more than 100 exhibitors, is a refreshing alternative. Representatives from...

Spring reading.(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)(Name All the Animals)(Wonderlands: Goad Gay Travel Writing)(Book Review)
February 3, 2004... Name All the Animals By Alison Smith, Scribner, $24 "I had never wanted to wander from the Sisters of Mercy's placid blue walls, but something in Colette's face, something in her eyes, in the curve of her elegant nose and trim mouth...

The Maine event.(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)(Advertisement)
February 3, 2004... For the fifth season the curtain goes up May to October at the opera house in Stonington, Maine. What is now known as Opera House Arts is the result of the efforts of four extraordinary lesbians. The cultural extravaganza they created features...

Getting blue.(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)(Advertisement)
February 3, 2004... Blue jeans more so than blue stockings are in evidence virtually any night of the week at Bluestockings, a lesbian cafe-activist center on New York's Lower East Side. The establishment derives its name from radical 18th century women's literary...

Metro, Metro Man.(Escapes)(Advertisement)
February 3, 2004... Not everybody can spare a week to get pampered, cleansed, and healthy. Loews Hotels' "Metro Man" makeover ($525 to $850, including a night's stay) transforms your life and look in 24 hours--within the confines of a luxury hotel. Upon arrival,...

Pack money, safety tips, and good health.(Site Seeing)
February 3, 2004... www.bloomberg.com/analysis/calculators/currency.html The Bloomberg Currency Calculator will help you figure out how many U.S. dollars that time-share in Rio might set you back. The simple utility features more than 200 currencies. This tool...

Swiss please.(orientation)(Gay bars)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Don't be jaded--not all gay bars are alike. There is nothing old about Europe's oldest standing gay bar (so goes the legend), Barfusser, in Zurich. This haunt has been serving drinks since 1956, and while the decor has changed since then, the...

Side by side: unlike most cities, New York has two gay neighborhoods. And although they adjoin geographically, they are worlds apart.(Different Strokes)
February 3, 2004... Village Boundaries 14th Street to the north, Houston Street (remember, it's pronounced "howstun") to the south, Hudson River to the west, Broadway to the east. History Birthplace or the American gay liberation movement on June 27,...

The hot 9.(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)
February 3, 2004... 1. 1911 La Carre square face watch with stainless bracelet, $2,800, by Ebel. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2. Two newly launched energy bars in chewy chocolate peanut and multigrain crunch from Snickers, $1.49 each, by Snickers Marathon. ...

Spring getaways.(Seasonal Offerings)
February 3, 2004... 1. 307 Tribute Jacket with front zip and slim fit $80, by Puma. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2. Mother-of-pearl and silver picture frame take your loved one with you, $45, by Towle. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 3. Luxe grain tri-duffle...

Wake up and smell the coffee!(Orientation: dispatches from the editors)(Stork's coffeehouse)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Famous for its homemade goodies, Stork's coffeehouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is also becoming known lot something equally mouth-watering. Locals are increasingly using the outdoor cafe to meet out of-town vacationers they wooed online, Rather...

Divine David: Michaelangelo's most famous sculpture has been adored for exactly 500 years.(familiar faces)
February 3, 2004... David is fresh from his bath. All 17 feet of his smooth Carrara marble body has been cleansed of grime that has built up since his last cleaning, which was in 1843. On the occasion of his 500th birthday this year, David is poised for his...

Out of bounds: Amelie Mauresmo, the 24-year-old French lesbian tennis star, spends off-court time with writer Douglas Robson.(people who travel)(Brief Article)(Interview)
February 3, 2004... You travel all over the world playing tennis tournaments. What are your tips for traveling well? Travel light, first. For things that you are taking with you on the plane, if you have a long flight, take a change of clothes. Dress in layers....

Climbing on top: Sydney's Harbour Bridge offers the best--and scariest--vacation workout for viewing the Australian metropolis.(sweat)
February 3, 2004... As I toss in bed, cocooned in Four Seasons Hotel luxury, I see it. It's huge. My palms sweat when I look at it. Its girth taunts and terrifies. I stare in awe. From my bed I see the stunning harbor view: the boats, the opera house, and it. The...

Travel queries.(Customs)
February 3, 2004... Q My girlfriend and I are planning our first vacation together. We're attending a wedding in L.A. this spring, and we've decided to tack on a beach vacation in Southern California. I love to camp and want to experience the outdoors with her,...

Great gay ways: Andy Towle walks on the wilder side of 10 streets around the globe.(Perfect 10)
February 3, 2004... COMMERCIAL STREET (from Franklin to Pearl), Provincetown, Mass. The street's mix of lesbians, gay men, tourists, artists, writers, Portuguese fishermen, and drag queens makes it a living experiment in social interaction and tolerance....

Picture perfect: taking vacation photos to keep. Tips for the right cameras, angles, and attitudes.(travel matters)
February 3, 2004... Flash! Suddenly, with the explosion of digital technology, it seems like everyone is a travel photographer ready to present a laptop slide show. Pocket-size digital cameras are becoming more affordable and sophisticated. But not everyone needs...

Bravehearts: the real gay McCoys in Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh are true.(Cover Story)
February 3, 2004... It was our first day in Edinburgh, and we were fighting jet lag with a plodding hike up Princes Street. On our south side ran the classic cityscape that spans every local postcard: the medieval turrets of Old Town, rising to the castle that...

Out in Las Vegas.(city on a page)
February 3, 2004... Las Vegas is rediscovering its hedonistic ways. This return to its wilder side coincides with another major shift for the city: While drag shows have always been an entertainment draw, Las Vegas is vamping to the gay and lesbian market with new...

Breathtaking Brazil: Brazilian-born photographer Marcelo Krasilcic returns to both the far and familiar reaches of his native country to capture the magnificient landscapes of South America's most gay-friendly coast.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... UNTOUCHED SERENITY Accessible by Jeep the dunes around Jericoara lead into a small fishing village, so isolated that up until four or five years ago it had no electricity. Previous pages: The beaches at Rancho do Peixe at Jericoara, A...

Schmooze cruise: over 1,000 gay men on an Atlantis events European cruise navigate a social circuit as colorful as the voyage itself.
February 3, 2004... On the Splendor of the cruise ship somewhere between Naples, Italy, and Palma de Mallorca, Spain, ABBA is entertaining a few hundred gay men gathered around the pool. Well, not exactly ABBA. It's the cruise director for Atlantis Events, gay...

Chad Allen and two 20-somethings in an SUV take on Costa Rica.
February 3, 2004... Chad Allen, an actor and free-spirited bohemian (whose show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, still airs daily in Central America), and Nicholas "Frenchie" Bru, a 22-year-old fashion student from Paris, joined me in Costa Rica for eight days to...

Key West our fantasy island.(our towns)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... It is a winter evening, sometime after dinner, and you are biking around the back streets of Old Town Key West. Shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops are all you need. The air; which was hot and humid a few hours ago, is now balmy and fragrant. The...

Travelscopes.(Horoscopes)
February 3, 2004... ARIES March 21-April 20 When your past bites you in the behind, bite back: April is for revisiting old haunts and settling old scores. But nothing comes out as you expect. Returning to that Castro apartment to confront an ex could lead to an...

Phuket, Thailand, October 2000.(Souvenir)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2004... Photographer Stewart Shining shot this photo while on assignment at Thailand's largest island, Phuket, located in the Andaman Sea off the country's southwestern coast. Known for resort towns, rice paddies, pristine beaches, and plantations of...

Beautiful music.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2004... What a great interview ["Melissa & Tammy: A Love Story," January 20]. It's nice to hear that they're both truly happy. I've been a Melissa fan for many years, and she's never looked better--Tammy must make her glow. I had the pleasure of...

Forced marriage?(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2004... I wonder if Bruce Steele sees the irony in his January 20 column, "No Special Rights" [Letter From the Editor in Chief]. While encouraging people to be "grown up enough to believe in their own specialness without the need to belittle their...

More good news.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2004... Your time line for 2003 left, out a major event ["Good News, Bad News," January 20]. On January 6, 2003, David Cicilline was sworn in as mayor of Providence, R.I., making Otis city the largest in the United States with an openly gay mayor and...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com.(reader forum)
February 17, 2004... * "Let them be. Give them a year or two and see how things go. All this scrutiny has gone way overboard. These are kids, not celebrities." * "The gay press has placed so much importance on the fact of even having a Harvey Milk High that it...

Richard sightings.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2004... I can't help being a bit amused by Richard Chamberlain's self-serving coming-out party ["Richard's Redemption," January 20]. About 20 years ago my late partner and I were attending a Carole Cook concert in West Hollywood, Calif., when in swept...

Gay man's best friend.(reader forum)(Letter to the Editor)
February 17, 2004... I read with interest the article "Girl Meets Boy" from the January 20 issue of The Advocate. I think it is so unfortunate that James's best friend, Andra, is getting so many negative responses (even from gay people) for appearing on the show...

Corrections.(reader forum)(Correction Notice)
February 17, 2004... In our January 20 time line for 2003, "Good News, Bad News," actor Michael Jeter was incorrectly listed as having died of AIDS complications; Jeter's life partner, Sean Blue, reports that Jeter's cause of death was complications from epilepsy....

Lesbian chic, part deux.(my perspective)
February 17, 2004... We've arrived. The postmodern lesbian: not totally butch d not totally lipstick chic but definitely demographically desirable--and Showtime's banking on it, big time. It's called The L Word. That's right, folks, L for lesbian--say it loud, say...