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In my book, Love Tips and Trips for Gay and Lesbian Relationships, I have identified 50 Ways to Keep Your Lover. My post last Friday offered strategies 43-44, this week I am sharing strategies 45-46. Look for more strategies next Friday! Continue reading "50 Ways to Keep Your Lover: # 45-46"...

If you read my blog or the posts I have done on Bilerico so far, you'll note that when I'm describing the African-American GLBT community, I will sometimes use the term 'SGL' or 'SGL community'' What's SGL and what does it mean? I'll tell 'ya after the jump. Continue reading "What's 'SGL' Mean?"... srExecute();

Elder Tolton enjoys a three-faceted career serving the gay and lesbian community as a voice for spiritual freedom, social justice and economic empowerment. As a professional man of faith, Tolton is the founder and pastor of Rehoboth Temple Christ Conscious Church in Harlem. His affirming ministry seeks to empower all people with the transformative power of the Gospel and to nurture disciples of Christ in the Pentecostal Apostolic tradition. Continue reading "Black LGBT History Day 9: Elder Joseph W. Tolton"... srExecute();

A native of Brooklyn, Rev. Irene Monroe is a graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. She served as a pastor at an African-American church before a Ford Fellowship took her to Harvard Divinity School for a doctorate. Monroe has been profiled in Oprah Winfrey's magazine, O, as well as on CNN's Paula Zahn Now and CNN Headline News. A frequent contributor to The Bilerico Project, she has also written columns for publications such as In Newsweekly, The Witness, Advocate magazine, the Windy City Times, Washington Blade, the Boston Globe, and many more. Monroe' award-winning essay, "Louis Farrakhan's Ministry of Misogyny and Homophobia," was greeted with critical acclaim. Her "Let Your Light Shine Like a Rainbow: 365 Days a Year-Meditations on Bible Prayers" will be out in June 2008. Continue reading "Black LGBT History Day 8: Rev. Irene Monroe "... srExecute();

Jerame and I ran into Donna Rose yesterday evening at the GM sponsored press reception. Donna greets Bilerico Project readers and breaks her first story at the same time. iPhone users: Click to watch srExecute();

I have been enjoying all of the posts so far about Black History Month. And true to my "militant" nature, I wanted to share a little bit about the numerous slave rebellions that took place during the slavery era. Slave ships were packed very tightly because enslaved Africans were not viewed as people, they were regarded as chattel. The men were chained, but the women weren't. This was because the slave traiders wanted easy access to rape the women. But this also meant that the women were free to move around, steal keys, and help instigate rebellions on the ships. The rebellion on the Amistad is perhaps the most well-known. But Mumia Abu-Jamal celebrates several others in his book We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party. Continue reading "Black History Month: Remembering Slave Rebellions"... srExecute();

Jerame and I thought we'd sneak off to Canada and get hitched since we're so close. It's hard to look at Windsor across the river and not want to join in equality. We chose Bruce and Brylo as our best man and bridesmaid. It didn't happen though. We don't have copies of our birth certificates. Rather like civil unions, eh? Close - but no cigar. srExecute();

The Department of Justice has now ended a five year old policy of denying the LGBT employee group, DOJ Pride, the same privileges it offers other minority groups. Justice Department workers had celebrated Pride in the Great Hall of DOJ headquarters every June since the mid 1990s when President Bill Clinton first declared a Gay Pride Month. However, Bush declined throughout his presidency to issue a proclamation for the event, which DOJ heads Ashcroft and Gonzales used as an excuse to ban the pride celebration starting in 2003. The new Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, now has reversed that ban. In a statement to DOJ Pride, Mukasey said that the department will "foster an environment in which diversity is valued, understood and sought." Continue reading "DOJ Allows Gay Pride on Property"... srExecute();

"The development of a child is enhanced by having a mother and father. Such a family is the ideal for the future of the child and for the strength of a nation. I wonder how it is that unelected judges, like some in my state of Massachusetts, are so unaware of this reality, so oblivious to the millennia of recorded history. It is time for the people of America to fortify marriage through constitutional amendment, so that liberal judges cannot continue to attack it!" -- Republican Mitt Romney takes another shot at gay families in a speech announcing the end of his presidential campaign srExecute();

iPhone users: Click to watch video in YouTube App Are Luke and Noah ready to make sexy time? It sure as heck seems so and kudos to As the World Turns if they do so. srExecute();

I hate "The L Word." And yet I watch it every week, ever since I got sucked in during Seasons 1 and 2. Those were the good 'ole days, before they murdered Dana and the fashion, hairstyles, and storylines went to shit. To recap the last four seasons (as well as the first four episodes of Season 5), Jennie is a pyscho, Shane is player, Bette and Tina are on again/off again, Kit's character only exists to make random "black comments," Max gives trans guys a bad name, Alice is still funny, and Dana is still dead. Do I seriously have this on my Tivo list? Last week's episode, however, included a little twist that was actually worth discussing. Alice outs an NBA basketball player on her website and starts a firestorm of controversy. Continue reading "Why I Love/Hate "The L Word""... srExecute();

Did you get stuck in long lines at the polls on Super Tuesday? Or were you stuck in an airport somewhere on your way to the Creating Change Conference? Don't worry. You won't miss a minute of this week's Best of Bilerico, 'cuz I've got your weekly round up to go with your coffee this morning, The VERY BEST post we had this week deserves a special nod: Here's what Hillary Clinton had to say to Bilerico readers. Monday The Gender Anarchist - Waymon Hudson Tuesday Jame's Dobson's McCain Hissy Fit - Alex Blaze (who is my vote for President, BTW) Health Officials Apologize to Gay Community Over MRSA Scare - Waymon Hudson Wednesday Sex Love and Transsexuals - Guest Blogger Monica Helms Gender, Gay Marriage . . . and Galileo - Patricia Nell Warren Thursday Barack Obama: A Transcendent Person of Color - Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore California Supreme Court to Hear Marriage Equality Case - Waymon Hudson Friday The State of the Movement - Matt Foreman srExecute();

This week, Michael and I ask: what the hell makes so many gay men so damn bitchy? Online Videos by Veoh.com srExecute();

Who loves the Bilerico Project? Noted queer activist and former head of the NGLTF, Urvashi Vaid. iPhone users: Click to watch srExecute();

Heath Ledger's death is already fading from the headlines, but its real message is going to haunt us all. Many Americans need to take it as a somber reminder about the safety issues around prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs. Many were prepared for Ledger's autopsy to reveal that the actor had been partying and abusing illegal drugs. After all, the tabloid press has addicted most people to the lurid cultural contact high of hearing that "celebrities do lots of drugs." But the facts appear to be different. Ledger was evidently just trying to deal with everyday stuff that we all battle, like insomnia and anxiety. He was desperate for some relief, so he did what many of us have been conditioned to do by high-powered pharmaceutical advertising: he collected a bunch of pills that he may have thought were safe to use together. Continue reading "Ledger's death: the real message"... srExecute();

While this was the plenary speech today at Creating Change, I thought I'd share it with the Bilerico audience too. As always, I cannot tell you how privileged and humbled I am to be here speaking to you — as I’ve said before, you are the heart, the soul, the brains and the brawn and the past, present and future of our movement for equality and liberation. Let me preface my remarks by highlighting one piece of incontrovertible good news: No matter what, in 347 days we will have a new president and the most anti-LGBT, corrupt, lying, disastrous administration in history of our nation will come to an end. One other thing I think we can all celebrate, no matter who you’re for, we can all take pride that for the first time we have a front-runner for president who’s a woman, a front-runner who’s African American, and until a couple of weeks ago a former front-runner who’s a bitter heterosexual crossdresser. Continue reading "The State of the Movement"... srExecute();

Here's Sinead O'Connor's cover of Nirvana's All apologies: iPhone users: Click to watch And Sinead, in her own words with The Advocate, on sexuality, lesbians, and the gay press: Continue reading "Queer Music Friday - Sinead O'Connor"... srExecute();

There are natural disasters and man-made disasters. There are those who look upon the aftermath of disaster and see things as they should be. We call them conservatives. As I write this, the seeds of disaster and an aftermath of Katrina-like proportions have been and are being sown in the shadow of the nation's capital, by a conservative philosophy that—as a matter of principle and policy—neither prepares for nor prevents disaster, nor provides relief in its aftermath. And when disaster befalls those most vulnerable to its ravages, conservative philosophy declares disaster the fault of and its consequences deserved by those least able to defend themselves against either. When disaster strikes Washington, D.C.—whether in the form of a disease outbreak, a dirty bomb, or another terrorist attack—it will be the fault of those who cannot get themselves out of harm's way; not the fault of conservative philosophy that makes disaster all but inevitable. Continue reading "Katrina on the Potomac"... srExecute();

Dear Fannie, I've been dating this guy for the past 2 months or so, but we're not "in a relationship" yet. We've been "dating around," but it's mostly been him seeing other people. I feel like we're really good together and I want to move our relationship to the next level and see each other exclusively. How do I move from his sometime guy to his all-the-time guy? --Wanting More Continue reading "Left Wanting"... srExecute();

Kate Clinton wanted to send a message to our readers. Since she's one of my favorite comediennes, I think I can accommodate, eh? *grins* Take it away, Kate... iPhone users: Click to watch srExecute();