Volume One, Issue Three THURSDAY March 1, 2012
Greetings from the Creator

The publication date for HOOSIER LGBTQ has been changed from Friday to Thursday! 

I hope you enjoy this week's issue--Kim Flowers

Flaming National Headlines

Friday Feb. 24 -- Dahrun Ravi, a former Rutgers University student, went on trial in New Jersey on hate crime charges and other counts for allegedly using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi's sexual encounter with another man.  Clementi committed suicide just days after Ravi allegedly streamed the encounter remotely and allowed others to view it.  If convicted, Ravi could face up to 10 years in prison.  --CNN.com

Tuesday Feb. 28 -- Anti-gay state group Minnesota for Marriage has posted 6 reasons on their web site that gay marriage should not be legalized.  The reasons are:
1.  Sex between a man and a woman has the unique capacity to create a child.
2. Pregnancy can occur regardless of whether the couple intends to create a child or not.
3.  The new human life that is created is vulnerable and needs the protection of adults.
4.  The man and woman who created the new life typically have the most interest and are best at protecting and guiding that child.
5.  They agree that they will both be held legally responsible for any child concieved during that marriage.
6.  Couples must work for decades together to raise a child from conception to adulthood. 

They also made a shorter version of the list:

1.  Society needs babies.
2.  Sex makes babies.
3.  Babies need a mom and dad.
4.  Marriage is society's attempt to insure babies have both a mom and dad. 
--Human Rights Campaign, thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

Wednesday Feb. 22 -- Truth Wins Out, a non-profit organization that fights LGBT extremism, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) and its president, Greg Quinlan, after Quinlan claimed on a television show that Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Beasen tried to have him killed.  --PR Newswire/US Newswire

Wednesday Feb. 29 -- Kenyata White and Aeimee Diaz were celebrating their anniversary at the District American Kitchen & Wine bar in Phoenix, Arizona this week when they were asked to leave the restaurant for "inappropriate behavior." But after an uproar on Facebook and other social media sites, the lesbian couple has been welcomed back. --azcentral.com

Community News
INDIANAPOLIS (WISHTV.com) -- The Indiana Senate passed a statewide smoking ban, but the House and Senate must work out a compromise before it can be made law.  One of the biggest issues is whether bars and taverns should be exempt.  Local bars that have gone smoke-free voluntarily say that it has not hurt their businesses, and that they believe going smoke-free is a good decision.

IMO:  From Bullying to Discrimination

Note:  This post has been removed.

          

This week's Rainbow Highlighter featured March 2, Talbot Street, Girls Rock! and March 3, Greg's, Disco 2012 Freaks Re-United

It's On . . . March 4, "World's Worst Place to  be Gay?" on LOGO

Volume One, Issue Two February 24, 2012

Volume One, Issue Two February 24, 2012
Introduction from the Creator

We've made it to the second issue!  There are times the thought of keeping this up is overwhelming, but it's not too difficult because I do my best to keep up on the news and I'm not really going out of my way to print what I've learned each week.  Submissions are still welcome, especially for Community News and It’s On. I don’t watch much TV; to illustrate just how dire the situation is, I just watched “But I’m a Cheerleader” for the first time last weekend.  I know.  I'm sorry.  Also, my wife and I are the proud parents of a 1 year old, and while he isn’t addicted to cartoons yet, the day is coming soon when he’ll be requesting to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 50 times in a row, so I don't see my TV-watching days increasing any time soon.


I have designed this page to display only one post on the main page.  You can find the blog archives in the right column to look at past issues; each week I'll summarize the information found on the other content columns on the right at the end of the old issue, and then refresh the side columns with new information.  I'm having an interesting time with fonts and type-sizes this week, but I'll figure it out. 


I'm considering changing the publication date to Thursdays to give people more of a chance to read before the weekend, but this week it wasn't possible.  HOOSIER LGBTQ also has a Facebook page, so check it out.  Each week I'll post a link on the page when the new issue is available.  --Kim Flowers


Flaming National Headlines

Friday, Feb. 23 the Maryland Senate passed a marriage equality bill, which the governor has pledged to sign into law.  –Human Rights Campaign

Friday, Feb. 17 the governor of New Jersey vetoed the gay marriage rights bill which was passed by the House and Senate.  Lawmakers need to get a two-thirds majority in both houses by January 2014 to override the veto.  –CNN.com

Add your name to the petition to add a freedom to marry platform to the 2012 Democratic election http://freedomtomarry.org/Say-I-Do.

Chicago alderman Proco Joe Moreno plans to introduce an ordinance to regulate how police deal with transgender people.  The State has also recently introduced a bill to add crimes based on gender-identity, military status, and immigration status to the hate-crimes law.  –Windy City Times

Community News

INDIANAPOLIS, IN— Associated Press  Advance America, an Indiana-based non-profit led by Eric Miller, is lobbying state lawmakers to ban IYG and other gay support groups from offering special Indiana plates, accusing the group of recruiting children to become gay.

State Rep. Jeff Thompson has tried three times this year to ban the IYG plates by pushing amendments for unrelated motor vehicle bills.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long says a ban would likely raise too many constitutional problems.

FT. WAYNE, IN –Indianapolis Star  Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne won't support a resolution celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts because he believes it is a "radicalized organization" that supports abortion and promotes homosexuality.  He claims the organization encourages sex and shouldn’t allow transgender females to join.

IMO:  Not the New Black

As Black History Month draws to a close, I find myself wondering about statements I hear sometimes that compare the gay experience to the black experience.  When people say that "gay is the new black," I have to say that I respectfully disagree.  It's human nature to categorize and compare as many things as possible; our brains instinctively do this to make sense of the world.  At the same time, I don't think every civil right issue should be equated to the horrible legacy of slavery.  Stand-up comedian Wanda Sykes is the only black person I have heard in my admittedly limited experience who has said that she believes being a lesbian is the more difficult of the two.  During one of her routines she jokes that at least she didn't have to come out as black to her parents and listen to them scream to Jesus about what they did wrong when they raised her.  I'm not sure she's in the majority on this opinion, but I do think she has a point.  Still, there are many who hear the comparison to gay and black and get insulted, and I feel that this is valid too. 

Since I don't have a picture on the site yet, I'll tell you that I'm white, in case you didn't know.  So what do I know about being black?  Probably nothing.  But even as a kid in a 99-percent white town I knew prejudice and discrimination were wrong.  Today I have black people in my family, including two children with a white mother and black father. I've seen the way white people sometimes look at my niece and nephew in public places when they aren't even doing anything wrong.   While Civil Rights has come a long way, there's more work to be done, so I think the biggest problem with saying "gay is the new black" is that this alludes to the fact that we're living in that mythical Post-Racial Era, when we are not.  The journey to gay rights should not replace or overshadow the struggles that others are still going through.  

The various experiences of minority groups are not identical, and while I believe that in the quest for equality in areas such as marriage we can look back on the struggle for women's rights and civil rights, LGBTQ rights should also incorporate new ideas.  A larger effort to educate the mainstream public and display good role models would be a start, so that at least the people who are against gay rights can know what they're talking about.  When those who are anti-gay actually meet an LGBTQ person, whether it be a co-worker, a friend, or their own child, they usually see things from a different perspecitve.  So, more straight people just need to meet more gay people!  Maybe this is what the haters call "recruiting", but it's what I call education.

Being gay is not the same as being black. But every person does deserve basic human rights.  Maybe someday there really will be an all-inclusive "human rights campaign" where every type of person imaginable can join.  Yeah, I know, I watched way too much Sesame Street as a kid.  But it could still happen!

Thanks for reading!

This weeks side columns:
The Rainbow Highlighter:  Cornerstone Center for the Arts in Muncie, Sweetheart Dance, Feb. 25

It's On . . . Sat. Feb. 25 "It Gets Better" 3-4 am on LOGO

Reading Out Loud  "America's Boy" by Wade Rouse

Volume One, Issue One  February 17, 2012
Introduction from the Creator
Welcome to Issue One of HOOSIER LGBTQ!  The format is still evolving, and while I hope to one day have a more professional look, my goal is to maintain a free publication for Indiana's gay community.  If any other Indiana GLBT magazines exist, please share them, because I'd like to know!

HOOSIER LGBTQ will be published every Friday, and will feature national and local news, opinions, and events.  Submissions are welcome, but right now I will be unable to pay contributors.  See the submission guidelines at the bottom of the page for more information.

Comments are welcome, but they will be moderated.  Absolutely no anti-gay, hateful, or hurtful comments will be allowed.  HOOSIER LGBTQ is a place for acceptance and affirmation; debates about whether being gay or having rights is "wrong" or "bad" belong somewhere else.

I hope you enjoy this week's issue of HOOSIER LGBTQ! --Kim Flowers

Flaming National Headlines

Lawmakers are on the verge of legalizing gay marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh state in the U.S. to allow gay couples to wed.  --Associated Press

On Thursday, Feb. 16 New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill to provide same-sex couples the right to marry, but the state's Republican governor has vowed to veto it.  --CNN.com

A bill to restrict teaching about homosexuality before high school, known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, passed Tennessee's Senate last year, and will be voted on by the House in spring; several Tennessee students are protesting.  --USA Today

On Monday, Feb. 13 at the Great Lakes Naval Station,  north of Chicago, about 75 people held the first public meeting of Gay, Lesbian and Supporting Sailors (GLASS).  This is believed to be the first non-academy, general base-sanctioned gay support group on any U.S. base in the world.  --Windy City Times

Community News--Benefit at The Mark III Tap Room

MUNCIE, IN Last Saturday, The Mark III Tap Room held a benefit show for a former manager of the gay bar, Darla Taylor, who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer.  Entertainers included drag queens Lena Myers, who came out of retirement for the event, and India Black, who performed a tribute to Whitney Houston, as Houston's death had been announced shortly before the show began.  Over $800 was raised. The Mark will hold a regular drag show tomorrow night, Saturday Feb. 18.


IMO:  This section will be re-posted in three days.

This week's side contents were: 
The Rainbow Highligher-- The Mark III Tap Room in Muncie -- Drag Show, Sat. Feb. 18

It's On . . . RuPaul's Drag Race, Mondays on LOGO

Reading Out Loud-- "The Moonlit Earth" by Christopher Rice, and http://www.allromancebooks.com/ featuring "Eye on the Ball" by Shelley Munro

Thanks for reading!