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

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

Fancying Mr. Williams. (reader forum).
June 10, 2003... I was so happy to find my new issue of The Advocate with Robbie Williams on the cover ["The Second Coming of Robbie Williams," May 13]. I have "fancied" Mr. Williams for a long time, and while I would love to see him break big in the States,...

Objectionable. (reader forum).
June 10, 2003... I understand that one of the purposes of journalism is to give a platform to all voices regardless of whether you agree with them. Stephen Funk, the gay conscientious objector ["I Object," May 13], is a case in point. At first I was sorry...

Travel advisory. (reader forum).
June 10, 2003... "Buried Alive in Egypt" [May 13] was a disturbing article. I am not surprised that American citizens and their loved ones are being harassed overseas. I think the people in the article would have been framed or imprisoned whether or not they...

Ich bin ein Berliner. (reader forum).
June 10, 2003... I was thrilled to read about Klaus Wowereit and his promotion of gay tourism in his city ["The Mayor Is Gay (And That's a Good Thing)," May 13]! Berlin is very special to me--in 1998, I started what would be two years of study there, which...

Military husband. (reader forum).
June 10, 2003... I remember picking up my first copy of The Advocate when I was 17 and crying when I realized there were other people like me out there. Today, at age 25, reading your article "Family Life During Wartime" [April 29], I cried in the same way. My...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com. (The Advocate Poll).
June 10, 2003... * "Why would you even join the military if you didn't want to fight for your country?" * "A military volunteer can, and should be able to, claim conscientious objector status, provided he does so when first enlisting, requesting a military...

26 years of joy. (my perspective).
June 10, 2003... The publication of The Joy of Gay Sex in its "fully revised and expanded third edition" caps a 26-year period during which not only gay sexuality but also the attitudes and customs surrounding gay sexuality have changed--at times subtly and at...

Rants & raves.
June 10, 2003... "Jodie Foster. I never get sick of looking at her." --Halle Berry, on who she thinks is really beautiful, from her interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, May 1 "There was no term for bisexuality [at the time of Alexander...

Gephardt's gay daughter: Chrissy Gephardt is revving up to solicit gay and lesbian votes for her dad's presidential bid. (Campaign 2004).
June 10, 2003... Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, never acknowledged her sexual orientation during her father's campaign in 2000 and has said little, if anything, about it since his election. But now Dick Gephardt's lesbian daughter,...

Gay-friendly to a T. (Education).
June 10, 2003... In 1999 a college guidebook by the Princeton Review named Duke University the most gay-unfriendly campus in the country, but 10 students at the Durham, N.C., school are trying to prove it's anything but. Fed up with their school's antigay...

The real gay mafia. (Crime).
June 10, 2003... In the mob, if you kiss a guy on the cheek, it means you're "family." But if family thinks you kiss guys on the lips, it means you're dead. "That is the role," Anthony Capo, a former mafia hit man turned government informant, told a...

Rocking the Rockies. (Sports).
June 10, 2003... Joining the growing list of professional sports teams engaged in damage control with their gay fans, the Colorado Rockies organization in late April distanced itself from relief pitcher Todd Jones, who told The Denver Post he wouldn't accept an...

San Diego's center. (Community).
June 10, 2003... Gay-friendly lawmakers and government officials from across California turned out April 25 to witness the unveiling of a $1.2 million renovation of San Diego's 18,000-square-foot Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center. ...

Northern wedding bells. (Canada).
June 10, 2003... Now that courts in three of the country's 10 provinces have declared that the federal government must grant marriage fights to gay and lesbian couples, it looks like there will be a showdown in Canada. The latest decision came on May 1 from...

Across the nation.
June 10, 2003... Indianapolis, Ind. A judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging Indiana's ban on recognizing same-sex unions, ruling on May 7 that state law clearly defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Austin, Tex. The state house of...

Defining minority: controversy surrounds Salt Lake City's new minority affairs coordinator, Blythe Nobleman, who is not only white but also an out lesbian. (Behind the Headlines).
June 10, 2003... Hispanic activists and several religious leaders in Salt Lake City are more than a little upset about the mayor's choice for the city's new minority affairs coordinator. In mid April, Mayor Rocky Anderson appointed Blythe Nobleman, a...

The benefit of inclusion. (Business).
June 10, 2003... If you're out of the closet and also feeling out of the loop at work lately, a recent survey suggests you may be in good company. After asking 2,000 employees at a number of companies nationwide how various demographic segments fit in at...

A prayer for Congress. (Religion).
June 10, 2003... Given the Republican support for U.S. senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in light of the criticism surrounding his recent antigay comments [see page 22], it was particularly poignant when U.S. representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a south...

A driving force behind gay rights. (Marketing).
June 10, 2003... A new campaign by Swedish carmaker Volvo that targets gay families could end up being a boon for the Human Rights Campaign. Volvo promises to give the gay rights group $500 per car for at least the first 10 cars leased or purchased between now...

Transitions.
June 10, 2003... DIED: Eric Gupton, 43, member of pioneering performance troupe Pomo Afro Homos, in San Francisco, of AIDS complications, April 30. DIED: Bishop Pad Moan Jr., 83, pro-gay former leader of the Episcopal Church in New York, of cancer, May 1....

Real dads' stories. (Gay Parenting).
June 10, 2003... Two deeply personal tales of gay parenting are now being told exclusively on Advocate.com. New Yorkers Mike Menichiello and his partner. David Menges, are continuing to share their complicated, exciting journey into surrogate fatherhood in...

Argentina's Big Apple. (Advocate Travel).
June 10, 2003... Buenos Aires, the only Latin American city to recognize same-sex relationships, remains a hot destination for gay and lesbian visitors. Join Alex Robertson Textor for an insider's tour, only on www.advocate.com/travel.

December 6, 1987 becoming a gay dad. (From the Advocate Archives).
June 10, 2003... At a time when gay parenting was still a radical idea, reporter Kevin McKinney wrote for The Advocate about the challenges facing gay men seeking to become fathers. McKinley found that all methods of gay parenting came with challenges....

Breasts to the highest bidder. (On the Web).
June 10, 2003... Who needs pop-up advertisements when you have a push-up bra? That's what Toni Frisina of San Antonio thought when she auctioned off her head and a piece of her DDD/F-sized bosom on eBay for advertisers to use as a walking billboard. The...

A college connection. (On the Web).
June 10, 2003... Are you a college student looking for love in all the wrong places? You may want to try the GLBT-inclusive CollegeLuv.com, a new dating site for today's dynamic and, perhaps, openly gay or lesbian college student. The site's more than...

Unambiguously gay duo. (the Buzz).
June 10, 2003... HUNKY REICHEN COMPARES HIMSELF to Ben Affleck. Reichen's life partner, handsome Chip, cites Winston Churchill as his role model. Together, they join 11 other teams for the fourth running of CBS's The Amazing Race--a show in which gay...

Manheim's woman? (the Buzz).
June 10, 2003... THE BUZZ WAS PICKING UP a few unmentionables at the supermarket not long ago and was stunned to read a tabloid report of Camryn Manheim's romance with actor Ann Cusack (sister of John and Joan), complete with hand-holding photo op. Manheim has...

Briefs encounter. (the Buzz).
June 10, 2003... "I'VE HEARD PEOPLE SAY it was the best 'dumb gay jock' they'd ever seen," says Josh Stamberg of his recent guest shot on Six Feet Under. Stamberg played Sarge, the butch paintball team member who eventually strips down to his Marky Marks and...

Why it's still ok to be antigay: the White House's unqualified support for Sen. Rick Santorum after his antigay rant in April is just one more sign of what gay activists are up against in wooing the GOP. (Politics).
June 10, 2003... Sen. Rick Santorum was on a roll. After endorsing Texas's antigay sodomy law and comparing homosexuality to incest and polygamy, the Pennsylvania Republican said, "That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on...

Meet the parents: Santorum said a mouthful about gay people, but he was tongue-tied when he came face-to-face with their families. (Politics).
June 10, 2003... Fran Kirschner, a 59-year-old Philadelphia resident and the president of the local chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, says that when she heard Sen. Rick Santorum's comments comparing homosexuality to bigamy,...

An ally down the aisle: the Presbyterian Church USA forbids Stephen Van Kuiken to marry gay couples, but the Cincinnati pastor promises to stand his ground. (Religion).
June 10, 2003... For the past 3 1/2 years, Stephen Van Kuiken, pastor at Cincinnati's Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, has done what religious leaders everywhere often do: He's married people. And for Van Kuiken, a 44-year-old straight married man, that...

Baby comes early, daddy comes out: broadway and TV star B.D. Wong talks about his new book on the harrowing premature birth of his son--and about why he's finally ready to speak out in The Advocate. (Gay Parenting).
June 10, 2003... While rebounding from the death of one child and the life-threatening illness of another, B.D. Wong won't be taking it one day at a time. That "didn't really work for Mackenzie Phillips," he writes in his hilarious new memoir, Following Foo....

Little victories for gay adoption: a Mississippi ruling in favor of two lesbian moms shows that states may be forced to allow gay parents even as they reject gay couples. (Gay Parenting).
June 10, 2003... When Cheri Goldstein and Holly Perdue asked officials in Mississippi to recognize the out-of-state adoption of their 5-year-old son, Taliesin, they were denied. Parental rights, the state argued, could not be applied to a lesbian couple because...

Generations of pride: P-town's Family Week--and similar gatherings around the nation--is becoming the most important event of the year for many gay parents and their children. (Gay Parenting).
June 10, 2003... Sand castle building contests. Movie nights. Bonfires. Cookouts. It sounds like the itinerary of activities from virtually any summer camp--until you hear about a few of the other scheduled events, like a workshop for the children of...

The parent map: two TV documentaries and two books from queer artists outline their individual roads to mommyhood and daddydom. (Gay Parenting).
June 10, 2003... Daddy & Papa * Directed by Johnny Symons * PBS * June 3 Adoptions by gays seem to be downright contagious. That was the experience of filmmaker Johnny Symons, whose award-winning documentary Daddy & Papa will be shown June 3 on PBS's...

Project: conception: think it's easy for two lesbians with a sperm donor to get pregnant? Mom-to-be Sue Rochman says, "Think again". (Gay Parenting).
June 10, 2003... In November 2001 my partner, Robin, and I agreed it was time: We were going to have a baby. I was so sure I'd instantly get pregnant that I figured out the baby's due date the day after we inseminated. And when this turned out to be my mother's...

Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps.
June 10, 2003... * Edited by Michael Bronski * St. Martin's * $14.95 This paean to those good old, bad old pulps is irresistible. Excerpts from titles like My Purple Winter and Whisper His Sin are put in context by authoritative editor Bronski. And you...

The Dirty Girls Social Club.
June 10, 2003... * Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez * St. Martin's * $24.95 The season's most scrumptious book may not be the gayest, but this tale of six Latina girlfriends doing battle with tough careers and sexy men in and around Boston will wreck your stereotypes...

Maryfield Academy.
June 10, 2003... * Carla Tomaso * Alice Street * $29.95 A tony girls' school starts to unravel when a woman teacher is accused of sexually harassing one of her students. This darkly comic book aims for laughs and gets them. Look out for the nun with the...

Escape from Fire Island!
June 10, 2003... * James H. English * Quirk Books * $7.95 In this hooty gay twist on those "choose your own adventure" paperbacks, you have to save yourself from zombie drag queens--but there's so much distracting Speedo'd scenery!

The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers.
June 10, 2003... * Joe Babcock * Closet Case * $15.95 When a gay teen coming-of-age story--by a gay writer barely out of his own teens--beats out more than 2,000 competitors to win the grand prize in the Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book...

Sappho's Leap.
June 10, 2003... * Erica Jong * Norton * $24.95 Jong's novel Fear of Flying helped liberate sex-shamed '70s women. Now, in her first book since 1998, Jong examines the Greek poet whose sexual exploits gave sapphism its name. Toga party!

Shattered Love.
June 10, 2003... * Richard Chamberlain * ReganBooks * $25.95 Hats off to Chamberlain, the dreamy leading man who's also one of America's most enterprising actors. Like Rock Hudson, Chamberlain always possessed such stunning looks that some underestimated...

Where The Boys Are.
June 10, 2003... * William J. Mann * Kensington * $24 This sequel to The Men From the Boys serves up sex, the circuit, a Provincetown guesthouse, drugs, and a mysterious stranger. Guaranteed to send your temperature soaring.

The Music of Your Life.
June 10, 2003... * John Rowell * Simon & Schuster * $23 This debut story collection is hogging the buzz this summer, and rightly so. Rowell has a great gay ear, as with this chagrined character whose much younger date has disappeared during intermission at...

He's the top: why agent Jed Mattes is one of gay lit's greatest heroes. (Summer Reading).
June 10, 2003... It was my secret desire as a young writer to be represented by Jed Mattes. I was too embarrassed to voice this lofty wish until one day I received a handwritten note from Jed, whom I'd never met. "I've enjoyed reading your work in various...

Strapped for Cash: a History of American Hustler Culture.
June 10, 2003... * Mack Friedman * Alyson * $19.95 All you need to know about America's oldest profession after "pilgrim." Plus, it comes with pictures.

The Book of Salt.
June 10, 2003... * Monique Truong * Houghton Mifflin * $24 What a smart idea to revisit the lives of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas through the eyes of their Vietnamese cook, Binh. Even smarter, this fine first novel puts Stein in the background and...

Christopher: a Tale of Seduction.
June 10, 2003... * Allison Burnett * Broadway Books * $13.95 We've seen clever outcasts in fiction before, but they're seldom as amusing as B.K. Troop. Forlorn, dumpy B.K. has fallen for his hetero neighbor, Christopher, and--in a voice that's part Capote,...

Dancer.
June 10, 2003... * Colum McCann * Metropolitan * $26 A dominant icon of the swinging '60s and one of the most captivating dancers in ballet history, Rudolf Nureyev was also a sexually insatiable--if publicly closeted--gay man. Acclaimed Irish novelist...

Riding in cars with girls: Kate Lake gives us a memoir any lesbian can understand one car at a time. (Summer Reading).
June 10, 2003... This is not your grandfather's memoir. Kate Lake's snappy little book--a collection of paintings, each accompanied by a short vignette--tells her life story as a series of snapshots, each episode embodied in a different car. The book, Zero...

Still out for blood: his first novel, about a gay Roman vampire in love with Jesus, landed him in hot water with the religious right. But author Michael Schiefelbein is back--and so is his unholy hero. (Summer Reading).
June 10, 2003... "I wanted Jesus." It's the opening line of Vampire Vow, Michael Schiefelbein's pulpy first novel about Victor Decimus, a Roman officer under Pontius Pilate who becomes a vampire after he is refused by a young and nubile Jesus Christ. After...

Books for gay grown-ups: Martin Duberman picks five titles to unite us. (Summer Reading).
June 10, 2003... It may be our community's toughest challenge: We really don't know one another, nor do we always get why we should. We asked this astute historian to recommend five books indispensable to any gay person who wants to learn about the real range...

Gay and phat. (notes from a blonde).
June 10, 2003... OK, first Eminem wins the Oscar. I was standing backstage when it happened, wondering if everybody in the Academy had decided to let their kids mark their ballots this year, but my surprise was nothing compared to Barbra Streisand's. She had...

Bountiful Trip: the charming love story the trip crosses decades and political parties.
June 10, 2003... The Trip * Written and directed by Miles Swain * Starring Larry Sullivan, Steve Braun, and Alexis Arquette * TLA Releasing Why is the gay date film so elusive a critter? You'd think all the societal and media visibility we've gained would...

Pillow shock: Down With Love will have you humming the costumes.
June 10, 2003... Down With Love * Written by Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake * Directed by Peyton Reed * Starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger * 20th Century Fox Any critic can note that Down With Love is to Doris-and-Rock sex farces what Far From Heaven...

Taking a new gamble: Richard Kwietniowski returns after a long absence with Owning Mahowny, his obsession-drenched follow-up to Love and Death on Long Island. (film).
June 10, 2003... Richard Kwietniowski had us worried there. His wryly subversive 1997 feature-film bow, Love and Death on Long Island, featuring John Hurt as a fuddy-duddy magnificently obsessed with B-flick hottie Jason Priestley, had critics and audiences...

I'm in Real World Paris ... get me out of here! Advocate columnist and intrepid foreign correspondent Charles Kaiser finds that being embedded in the MTV digs is no slumber party. (television).
June 10, 2003... I was a virtual Real World cast member for a day. I wore a body mike, lived in a house where only the bathrooms offered momentary respite from peering cameras, and never went outside without an entourage--a three-person camera crew plus...

From Africa to Brazil: documentary filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris goes in search of his Pan-African roots in That's My Face (E Minha Cara). (television).
June 10, 2003... For artist and filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris, the journey of self-discovery he embarks upon in his documentary film That's My Face (E Minha Cara), which premieres on the Sundance Channel on June 9, is as much steeped in his sexuality as it is...

Killer Klezbian: Drummer Eve Sicular and her klezmer band Isle of Klezbos bring new heat to traditional Yiddish music. (music).
June 10, 2003... Eve Sicular recalls when she first came up with Isle of Klezbos as a name for her new all-woman, mostly lesbian klezmer sextet. "The band loved it," says Sicular. "But some of my friends said, 'Don't you think it might be a stigma? Will you get...

Putting the fringe on top: singer-songwriter Mark Weigle finds support in writing about the gay community's outsiders. (music).
June 10, 2003... For a singer who describes his career as "trial and error," Mark Weigle has attracted a substantial following after self-releasing four CDs--including his latest, Different and the Same--that have garnered major music-store distribution and...

Skin games: Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin comes to the San Francisco stage.
June 10, 2003... Mysterious Skin * Adapted by Prince Gomolvilas * Directed by Arturo Catricala * Starring Taylor Valentine, Rebecca Fisher * New Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco * Through June 28 Scott Heim's acclaimed 1995 novel, Mysterious Skin, uses...

I hate boys. (last word).
June 10, 2003... I want children, and so does my boyfriend. We're lucky to have figured this out. I didn't exactly raise the subject on our third date. (Truth is, we never had a third date. Our first six months together felt like an extended sleepover.) There's...

Soldier's guys. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... Thank you for your May 27 cover story, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time," by Michael Rowe. Soldier's Girl's Troy Garity and Lee Pace seem like edgy, risk-taking actors as well as two of the most adorable straight guys you have ever profiled. And...

Silent knights. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... Caitlin Meuse was one of more than 200,000 students at approximately 2,000 high schools nationwide who courageously and peacefully took action on April 9, the national Day of Silence--a project of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education...

Painting a pretty picture. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... Has Los Angeles painter Jeff Griggs been sniffing too much paint ["The President, the Painter, and Porn," May 27]? I'll give him credit for a beautiful painting, but when he says "He's for us" in talking about George Bush, I wonder which "us"...

Oil and gastronomy. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... Your May 27 story "Taking Initiative," about the efforts of Phillip Winston to use his family connections with ExxonMobil to get the corporation to change its policies regarding its gay employees, brought back memories to me. From 1957 to 1970...

Horizon fund. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... Thank you for the really swell piece on the release of the DVD of my film Women in Love as well Grove Press's publication of my screenplay ["When Larry Met Lawrence," May 27]. MGM tells me it is one of their hottest new titles. There is a...

Rosie outlook. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... I can't tell you how happy I was to learn that Rosie O'Donnell is writing for The Advocate [Last Word, May 27]. When Rosie's TV show ended, I thought, Well, I subscribe to her magazine, and if I can't hear her stories, I can read them. And her...

Five-letter word. (reader forum).
June 24, 2003... Regarding your recent Music Issue [May 13], why do you continue to allow your writers to use the word queer?. I take strong offense at it. It's one thing for the individual(s) being interviewed to use it, but your writers continue to use it. I...

Reader comments from www.advocate.com. (The Advocate Poll).
June 24, 2003... * "No, I don't, but neither do I consider male-to-female transsexuals to be women. Let's test their chromosomes, shall we? Adding: or removing various body parts is on a par with painting stripes on a horse and saying it's now a zebra." *...

American evolution. (my perspective).
June 24, 2003... As a gay person, I feel fortunate to have been elected five times to public office. Being a Republican, I get criticized by both the far left and the radical right. Hate-spewing minister Fred Phelps called me a "faggot... worthy of the death...

Rants & raves.
June 24, 2003... "[Today's gays] jiggle their bottoms, put their little fingers in the air, and, with their little castrato voices, moan about what those ghastly heteros put them through." --Legendary French actress Brigitte Dardot, in her new book A Cry...

Not antigay enough: far-right leaders wage political war over President Bush's "pro-gay" bent. (Election 2004).
June 24, 2003... Is President Bush too gay-friendly? That's what a number of U.S. religious-right leaders are charging. And if the president doesn't change his ways, some conservatives are threatening to withhold their support for his 2004 reelection bid. ...

Young and in danger in New Jersey. (Crime).
June 24, 2003... The stabbing death of 15-year-old Sakia in Newark, NJ., on May 11 has people in Newark looking for more than justice. They also hope to find a better way to support the city's gay teens. The Reverend Jacquelyn Holland, pastor of the...

The general vs. the parents. (Military).
June 24, 2003... The parents of slain soldier Pfc. Barry Winchell have long demonstrated their tenacity in preserving their son's memory. And now Patricia and Wally Kutteles are fighting for their son on Capitol Hill. The couple on May 14 convinced Sen. John...

Jesse backs antigay successor. (Activism).
June 24, 2003... The Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition has actively supported gay rights and AIDS causes for many years, appears to have picked an antigay successor: Illinois state senator and minister James Meeks. Illinois activists...

Unfurling history. (Pride).
June 24, 2003... As Gilbert Baker, creator of the rainbow flag, and others in Key West, Fla., prepared to unveil a 1 1/4-mile long version of the banner on June 15, a San Francisco exhibit is paying tribute to the 25th anniversary of the now-ubiquitous pride...

Foley's rebuff. (Politics).
June 24, 2003... Calling published reports that he's gay "revolting" tactics by his political opponents, U.S. representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.), a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004, called a telephone conference May 22 to assert his right to a private...

Coloring Philadelphia gay. (The Nation).
June 24, 2003... It took Ann Northrup more than 50 gallons of latex paint and the help of 20 people to create Pride and Progress, a nearly block-long mural dedicated in downtown Philadelphia on May 17. The mural depicts a composite of 1960s gay civil rights...

Wesleyan gets beyond gender. (Education).
June 24, 2003... College dorms have always been labeled men's, women's, or, at more liberal schools, coed. Bat starting in September, freshmen at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., can choose to live in a "gender-blind" hall. That means those students...

Out and on top at U. of Oregon. (Activism).
June 24, 2003... Maddy Melton wasn't too surprised when her off-campus apartment bedroom was ransacked the day she announced her candidacy for student body president at the University of Oregon. And when her campaign posters were tom down, the junior from the...

Finding support amid dogma. (Advocacy).
June 24, 2003... Catholic-school teachers have traditionally made no secret of their opposition to the practice of homosexuality. But gay and lesbian students at increasing numbers of Jesuit universities are getting support from school officials anyway. ...

Gay families ahoy. (Travel).
June 24, 2003... Forget what you thought you knew about gay cruises. R Family Vacations, a venture between Rosie O'Donnell's partner, Kelli O'Donnell, and Gregg Kaminsky, is putting a family-values twist on high-seas high jinks. Appealing to the growing...