Lez Keep It Real

Well, as you all read this I am off to the sunny state of North Carolina. Yep, I’m taking a little vacation from the b-lo in order to drop in on my best friend from childhood and chill. I’ll be basking in the sun, reading by the pool and eating lots of not-so-good-for-you food. So, have a splendidly gay weekend - wherever you may be!

Your regular scheduled programming of the Come Out & Play  series will be posted on Tuesday. Be sure to stop by for the final part of Marco’s coming out story!

 Peace.

In honor of the Notable Lesbians series, I wanted to share this story with you. It’s about an 88-year-old woman who came out of the closet. It’s a story of courage, love and salvation. And it’s exactly what a Notable Lesbian, in my mind, should be.
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This week’s Notable Lesbian is:

Maggie L. McIntosh
December 22, 1947 -

Maggie L. McIntosh is an American politician from the state of Maryland. She is a former Baltimore City Public School teacher who now chairs one of the six standing committees of the Maryland House of Delegates. A Democrat, she represents the state’s 43rd district in Baltimore City. McIntosh chaired the Subcommittee on Personnel and was a member of the Education and Economic Development and Capitol Subcommittees. In 1998, she assumed the position of Vice Chairman of the Commerce and Government Matters Committee and in 2001, she was named House Majority Leader. In January 2003, McIntosh was named chairman of the House Environmental Matters Committee.

Interesting tid bit:
Delegate McIntosh is a woman of many firsts. She was the first woman to be appointed majority leader in the Maryland House of Delegates and the first openly gay person in the Maryland General Assembly. She is also the first woman to serve as the chairman of the Environmental Matters Committee where she has steered several major legislative initiatives to passage. The Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act, which funded upgrades at wastewater treatment plants around the state, is among McIntosh’s accomplishments, as well as an annexation measure passed in 2006 in which she brought counties and municipalities together. One of McIntosh’s chief initiatives in 2007 is the Chesapeake Bay Green Fund, which would levy a surcharge on new development to pay for Bay restoration.

If you have a suggestion for a Notable Lesbian, e-maill me at lyndsey.darcangelo@451press.net or use the contact form above and I’ll highlight her in an upcoming post.

maggie mcintosh, the chesapeake bay restoration act, maryland house of delegates, house environmental matters committee

I stumbled upon this well-written “our view” editorial from the Idaho Statesmen, Idaho’s #1 website for news and information, this morning. For those of you who don’t know, Sen. Craig pulled a George Michael-esque stunt in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. This editorial puts Craig on the hot seat and asks, “What the heck was really going on?”
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For those anti-gay proponents who speak out about gay marriage and all of its evil, who talk about a new age culture war and the breakdown of family values, I’ve got some news for you …
gay marriage, or at least the concept of a union between two same-sex individuals, has been around for centuries. This isn’t some hair-brained idea we gays have concocted in order to corrupt society. It’s a basic contract that allows us to have the same legal, God-given rights as every other heterosexual couple out there. And it ain’t nothin’ new …

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Since Friday’s post was about the Fagbug’s Adventure, I moved the Come Out & Play series to today.

This week’s Come Out & Play post continues to spotlight Marco, a well-known character from the hit show, Degrassi.

Basically, Degrassi is a totally awesome show! (That’s my inner 80’s child coming through!) There’s an openly gay character on the show named Marco DelRossi. His inner struggle with coming out was made into a two-part episode a couple of years ago. It was brilliantly scripted and just as wonderfully acted. Other episodes followed, revolving around his coming out to his family and friends. I thought I’d show it as a series, breaking it down in video clips from YouTube.

Remember the days when you’d watch a film in class, knowing you wouldn’t have to sit through another lecture for at least a week because that’s how long it would take to get through the film in the amount of time the class allotted. Well, think of this as a Come Out & Play 101 film! It’s broken up into nine parts.

(If you are confused and missed the introduction of Marco’s story, go here for a refresher. To view the other parts of Marco’s story, click on the Come Out & Play category on the right hand side to watch parts 1-7!)

This is Marco’s story part 8:

Make sure to come back next Friday for the final part of Marco’s coming out story! Trust me, it only gets better!

Tune in every Friday for the Come Out & Play series, featuring coming out stories of celebrities, every day people, personal reflections, advice, tid bits and everything else concerning the complicated world of coming out!

Got an interesting coming out story to tell? Contact me and I will feature it in an upcoming post of Come Out & Play.

degrassi, marco delrossi, come out play, coming out story, canada, gay and lesbian issues

Remember the Fagbug? Erin Davies returned from her cross-country adventure with plenty of eye-opening stories and memories. Read about her life-changing experience and what she plans to do now.
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This week’s Notable Lesbian is:

Leslie Gore
May 2, 1946 -
Lesley Gore (born Goldstein) is an American singer and songwriter of the “girl group era”. She is perhaps best-known for her 1963 Pop hit, “It’s My Party,” which she recorded at the age of 16. Following this hit, she became one of the most recognized Teen Pop singers from 1963-1967. Instead of accepting the television and movie contracts that came her way, Gore chose to attend Sarah Lawrence College. This limited her public career to weekends and summer vacations, and undoubtedly hurt her career. Nevertheless, throughout the mid-1960s, Gore continued to be the one of the most popular female singers in the United States and Canada. Gore played concerts and appeared on television throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 2005, she recorded her first album of new material since 1976 (Love Me By Name) — Ever Since. Also in 2005, Gore announced she was a lesbian. She currently lives with her partner of over 23 years.

Interesting tid bit:
Her first big hit was followed by many others, including “Judy’s Turn to Cry” (the sequel to “It’s My Party”), “She’s a Fool,” the proto-feminist “You Don’t Own Me,” “That’s The Way Boys Are,” “Maybe I Know,” “The Look Of Love” and “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.” Her record producer was Quincy Jones, who would later become one of the most famous producers in American music. Gore also provided musical aid for the 1996 film Grace of My Heart, which featured a character (played by Bridget Fonda) whose struggles over her sexual orientation were similar to Gore’s. Beginning in 2004, Gore could be seen hosting the PBS television series, In the Life, which focused on LGBT issues.

If you have a suggestion for a Notable Lesbian, e-maill me at lyndsey.darcangelo@451press.net or use the contact form above and I’ll highlight her in an upcoming post.

lesley gore, it’s my party, ever since, notable lesbians, you don’t own me, judy’s turn to cry

I have to hand it to The Buffalo News on this one, they’ve done a great job of following this heart-wrenching story and making sure that people pay attention to it by pasting it right on the front page. I’m impressed. Pleasantly surprised and impressed.

Unfortunately, the news in this tragic story isn’t as comforting this time around because it seems that Parete, the wounded Buffalo police officer, and her partner won’t be receiving benefits any time soon.

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Seeing as how there are numerous news stories these days of conflict between faith and sexuality, more significantly, Christians and Homosexuals, I thought it might be a wonderful idea to swap blogs with April Gilford of Life as a Christian Woman.

I know many loving and welcoming Christians, and April is one of them. She is understanding, compassionate and, in my eyes, the perfect example of what God intended a good Christian to be. She is not unique, however. There are many people out there like her. Unfortunately, with the news today, you often hear about those Christians who tend to twist the words of the Bible and act from a place of hate rather than love for their own personal agendas. At the same time, you often hear about homosexuals who bash organized religion or who lump all Christians together in one discriminating group. I’ll let you in on a little not-so-secret. There are just as many homosexuals who embrace religion, as there are Christians who embrace homosexuals. April and I wanted to take an opportunity to show that side. So here it is. A Christian perspective on a gay and lesbian blog.

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Looking to start anew, Pokey Chatman may have to go somewhere, someplace that hasn’t heard about the supposed allegations which caused her early exit from LSU. Of course, a whole other country might be a bit drastic …

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The Buffalo News, my home town newspaper, likes to present itself as being progressive and somewhat liberal, yet keeps its conservative audience happy by not reporting on gay and lesbian issues. I know because I work there and I’ve written for them before, and have proposed a gay and lesbian column numerous times. I have also pushed to have a gay and lesbian section of the paper or for more gay and lesbian issues to be reported on. Unfortunately, my attempts have fallen on deaf ears.

“We’re just not there yet,” one editor had said, using an all too familiar excuse that I’ve heard uttered numerous times, especially when referring to the country as a whole when speaking about gay marriage.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I sat down for breakfast with my girlfriend and saw this story on the front page of the Sunday edition of The Buffalo News …
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This week’s Come Out & Play post continues to spotlight Marco, a well-known character from the hit show, Degrassi.

Basically, Degrassi is a totally awesome show! (That’s my inner 80’s child coming through!) There’s an openly gay character on the show named Marco DelRossi. His inner struggle with coming out was made into a two-part episode a couple of years ago. It was brilliantly scripted and just as wonderfully acted. Other episodes followed, revolving around his coming out to his family and friends. I thought I’d show it as a series, breaking it down in video clips from YouTube.

Remember the days when you’d watch a film in class, knowing you wouldn’t have to sit through another lecture for at least a week because that’s how long it would take to get through the film in the amount of time the class allotted. Well, think of this as a Come Out & Play 101 film! It’s broken up into nine parts.

(If you are confused and missed the introduction of Marco’s story, go here for a refresher. To view the other parts of Marco’s story, click on the Come Out & Play category on the right hand side to watch parts 1-6!)

This is Marco’s story part 7:

Make sure to come back next Friday for the eighth part of Marco’s coming out story! Trust me, it only gets better!

Tune in every Friday for the Come Out & Play series, featuring coming out stories of celebrities, every day people, personal reflections, advice, tid bits and everything else concerning the complicated world of coming out!

Got an interesting coming out story to tell? Contact me and I will feature it in an upcoming post of Come Out & Play.

degrassi, marco delrossi, come out & play, coming out story, canada, gay and lesbian issues

This week’s Notable Lesbian is:

Christine C. Quinn
July 25, 1966 -

Christine Callaghan Quinn is a Democratic politician from New York City who has served for six years on the New York City Council. She is the third speaker of the City Council, which is considered the second most powerful position in city government after the Mayor. Quinn is the first woman and first openly gay person to be elected speaker. In 2007, Quinn announced that she intended to march in the LGBT section of Dublin, Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She was invited to Dubln due to the Ancient Order of Hibernians’s policy against gays and lesbians marching openly (i.e. displaying overt symbols of their sexuality) in the New York parade. She tried to broker a deal with the organizers in 2006 to allow her to wear a gay pride pin, but failed and has since boycotted the event. Quinn currently resides in Chelsea, Manhattan with her partner, Kim Catullo

Interesting tid bit:
Quinn has been rated one of the fifty most powerful women in New York City by the New York Post and one of the “Forty Under Forty” by Gotham Magazine. She was named the third-most powerful woman in New York, behind Hillary Rodham Clinton and Diane Sawyer.

If you have a suggestion for a Notable Lesbian, e-maill me at lyndsey.darcangelo@451press.net or use the contact form above and I’ll highlight her in an upcoming post.

christine callaghan quinn, democratic politician, new york city council, new york post, gotham magazine, hillary rodham clinton, diane sawyer, kim catullo

I hunt for Pokey Chatman updates like a coke addict on the city streets searching for a dealer. I can’t help myself. I want to know what’s going on. I want to know what happened. And I want to know why no one else is talking about this.

The situation appeared to have been resolved, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving. The truth is that there were far too many loose ends left dangling in mid air for anything to be fully resolved.

Therefore, every time I log into ESPN, it’s not because I want to check the latest scores of the WNBA or update myself on what’s going on with the Kansas City Chiefs during preseason. (They’re my favorite team, but I could care less about preseason football.) I log in for one reason and one reason only, to see if there is any breaking news about Pokey.

Ever since she left LSU, she’s been ghost. No one has seen her or heard from her save for her lawyer and the LSU athletic department. Either Pokey is as good as 007 when it comes to disappearing or assuming another identity, or people just don’t care. Well, I happen to care. And I know plenty of others who care as well. We want to know what happened at LSU and why Pokey hasn’t stepped forward to clear her good name.

While on the hunt for Pokey this morning, I unearthed this … and it looks as though we may start getting some of the answers we seek, even if it’s in small doses.

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