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

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

A piece of my heart. (letter from the editor in chief).
January 21, 2003... In the summer of 1996, there was upheaval in the offices of The Advocate. Unfortunately, this has been a tradition whenever an editor in chief leaves the job at this fiery newsmagazine. The hot August day that I became the first woman editor in...

News of the year. (2002 Time Line).
January 21, 2003... January Three Saudi Arabian men are beheaded for homosexuality. According to a government press release, the men were killed because they "committed acts of sodomy, married each other, seduced young men, and attacked those who rebuked...

Rants & Raves. (Sports).
January 21, 2003... The debate over homophobia in sports in 2002 moved beyond merely condemning new John Rocker insults to become a heated argument about whether it's downright dangerous for team athletes to come out. Gay ex-baseball pro Billy Bean caught hell for...

Remembering Harry: essayist and former Advocate editor Mark Thompson describes the heart and spirit of his friend the late Harry Hay. (Pioneers).
January 21, 2003... The first thing Harry Hay ever told me was to pull off my ugly green frog skin of heterosexual conformity. It was May Day, 1979, and I had just gotten off a plane from San Francisco, where gay people danced naked in the streets. There wasn't...

History makers: where are the founders of the modern gay rights movement, and what is being done to preserve their stories? (Pioneers).
January 21, 2003... People keep telling Frank Kameny that he ought to write a book--a best-selling bombshell of an autobiography. A sort of The Oldest Living Gay Activist Tells All. And the 77-year-old agrees that he probably should write his memoirs. For one...

Good heavens: the new archbishop of Canterbury speaks five languages and, in each one of them, says there's nothing sinful about being gay. (Religion).
January 21, 2003... The Church of England has just apppointed a new archbishop of Canterbury--the ceremonial leader of the Anglican Communion--and Rowan Williams already is making history. He's the first archbishop to come from outside England--in this case,...

Building a better ride: with AIDS ride organizer Pallotta TeamWorks out of business, many AIDS groups are pinning their financial hopes on their own smaller rides. (Fund-Raising).
January 21, 2003... It's hard to know which came first: people's passion for huge, multiday AIDS fund-raisers or the grandfather of those fund-raisers, the AIDS rides. But by last August two things had become abundantly clear: People's interest in these events had...

My personal best: competing in his first Gay Games, renowned Philadelphia screenwriter Ron Nyswaner reports on the challenges and colors of Sydney 2002. (Gay Games).
January 21, 2003... Imagine you have trained for 22 months to run your first marathon (that's 26.2 miles). When you arrive near dawn at the start line--eager, with a knotted stomach--you learn your race has been canceled due to quickly rising summer temperatures....

The real Rosie: 365 days of amazing challenges and feisty decisions turned America's sweethheart into the fighter she's always been--and The Advocate's leading lady for 2002. (Person of the Year).
January 21, 2003... First of all, are not two Rosies. She was never the "Queen of Nice," and she's not the Queen of Mean." That's just our media selling tickets to its own headlines. Sure, she's a complicated bunny, but there's still only one and one's enough!...

All in the family: Rosie's gay brother, Daniel, is making a name for himself in New York State politics. (Rosie O'Donnell).
January 21, 2003... If you read Daniel O'Donnell's campaign literature, he seems like a gay politician with something to hide. No, he doesn't shy away from his sexual orientation: His 22-year relationship with partner John Banta is mentioned repeatedly in his...

If I picked the top 10. (notes from a blond).
January 21, 2003... Magazines love to make lists. Top 10 gynecologists in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island--that was part of a cover story recently in New York magazine. Nobody in New Jersey was worth a nod. I guess when Carmela Soprano...

A teen Idol's dreams: Jim Verraros, the 19-year-old American Idol finalist, talks for the first time about overcoming antigay abuse in school and finding the strength to come out and take on Hollywood. (Television).
January 21, 2003... Say what you want about American Idol's Jim Verraros--he's living a gay teenager's dream. He was one of 10 finalists competing for a record contract on last summer's most talked-about reality TV contest. He's just finished the "American Idols...

Top 10 TV.
January 21, 2003... 1 Saturday Night Live With Sir Ian McKellen. That mad kiss with Jimmy Fallon had us weeping with laughter. Here's hoping a great film comedy is in his future. 2 The Laramie Project A brilliant stage invention retains its power on...

Six degrees of Marc Shaiman. (Theater).
January 21, 2003... In which we prove that the composer and co-lyricist of Hairspray is only steps away from almost every legend, out star, and gay icon in Hollywood.

Top 10 stage.
January 21, 2003... 1 Hairspray We always knew John Waters would conquer the world. We just didn't know Harvey Fierstein would be involved. 2 Sondheim Celebration Kennedy Center Six glorious Sondheim shows--a bull's eye for the arts in D.C. 3...

Does MPAA = most parents are antigay? Why do squeaky-clean gay-themed movies--even those intended for family viewing--get slapped with strict MPAA ratings? The ratings board believes parrots want it that way. (Film).
January 21, 2003... "They make their arguments as if they were a housewife in Denver, and they're probably right that a housewife in Denver would be offended by gay sex scenes," says United Artists marketing chief Dennis O'Connor. He's talking about the Motion...

A crowning year for Queen; more than a decade after Freddie Mercury's death, Queen goes on and on. Is this band immortal? (Music).
January 21, 2003... This year was Queen's jubilee--and we're not just talking about Queen Elizabeth II. In 2002 the legendary British musical act Queen continued to reign, even though the band effectively ceased to exist on November 24, 1991, when front man...

Top 10 music.
January 21, 2003... 1 Linda Perry in concert at the Knitting Factory, Los Angeles Perry and Pink and Ms. Aguilera singing Perry's songs, plus Perry's Led Zep set. `Nuff said. 2 Imperial Teen, On Sardonic vocals, bouncy guitars--a discoless dance...

Touring with T: thanks to her outstanding debut novel, T Cooper wound up seeing the USA on a 30-city tour. (Books).
January 21, 2003... "I've been to Middle America," says T Cooper with faux gravity, as if she'd just returned from the Lewis and Clark expedition. This past fall, the 30-year-old queer author's first novel, Some of the Parts (Akashic Books), proved to be one of...

Top 10 books.
January 21, 2003... 1 Fingersmith Sarah Waters Lesbian love in the gutters of Victorian London--a world-class yarn. 2 At Swim, Two Boys Jamie O'Neill Sprawling saga of secret gay love amid Ireland's troubles. 3 Some of Us Did Not Die ...

The homosexual translator menace. (last word).
January 21, 2003... If the newest warnings of a calamitous attack by al-Qaeda come true, you can blame the antigay policies of the U.S. government for the military's failure to detect the details of the latest onslaught before it occurs. According to our...