This is good news. As you know, the Washington Blade, the nation's premiere gay newspaper, closed down the other week.
This does all raise the interesting question of what role the gay media play in a modern era in which we get a lot of our gay news from the straight press. When I was growing up, there was no gay news anywhere, other than the occasional snippet (usually bad) in the local press. Now it's everywhere. Do we still need gay papers and gay magazines? What unique role do they, can they, continue to serve? Simply reporting the news isn't enough - we already get that long before the once-a-week or once-a-month publications go to press. So what can they do to stay relevant? I think Kerry Eleveld at the Advocate has done a good job of staying relevant. She dogs the Obama White House, and Congress, on a daily basis about the progress, or lack thereof, on our issues. A straight paper wouldn't do that to this degree. But what of publications that can't afford Washington correspondents?
That doesn't mean the gay press can't expand its opinion journalism. Where are we as a people, where is our movement heading, are our national groups still relevant in the Internet age when power has become so dispersed? I have to admit to not often reading the gay press, beyond Kerry's articles, because they usually aren't telling me anything I don't already know. That's their challenge, to become relevant again.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Why are there no senior gays in the White House?
Bill Clinton had gay friends. Bill Clinton had gays working in senior jobs at the White House. Who are Barack Obama's gays? Who works at a senior level in the White House who is openly gay? Let me repeat: a senior level. Does President Obama have close gay friends? Why don't we ever hear about them? There are no openly gay people in Obama's cabinet. And the head of OPM really doesn't count - it's a nice job, but it's not cabinet level, and not anywhere near the importance of State, Defense, Commerce or pretty much any other cabinet post. There are a lot of reasons that the Obama administration's relations with the gay community remain strained, and one of them, I suspect, is that no one in the upper echelons of this administration is openly gay. Imagine if the same had been said of women, Latinos, or blacks in the administration.
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ABC cancels Adam Lambert appearance after televised gay kiss
Was it the gay kiss or was it the sexually suggestive moves he did with a band member? It's not entirely clear. What is clear is that a lot of the outrage following Lambert's performance the other night isn't just about being "sexually suggestive." A lot of the ire is because he kissed a man on TV. ABC has some serious explaining to do.
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Religious right caught lying again
This is what they routinely do. And it only goes to show that the religious right isn't interested in Christianity at all. Christ did not lie for our sins.
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Separate but equal ENDA?
Sounds like they're watering down ENDA. Remember, we were told ENDA would be passed this year. Feeling a big case of "I told ya so" coming on.
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Candelight vigil for gay teen brutally murdered in Puerto Rico
The suspect in custody says he picked up the victim, thinking he was a woman, and when he found out he was a man, he decided to decapitate, dismember, and burn him. Uh huh. Feel free to use our action page to send a message to Attorney General Holder asking him to investigate whether this was a hate crime. Over 2,000 messages have already been sent, add yours too.
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Boy kisses boy, people freak
I admittedly don't know who Adam Lambert is. But I do find this funny as hell.
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