Erie Gay News

Win tickets to Hairspray at the Erie Playhouse! Erie Gay News is giving away a ticket to 4 winners for this Tony-Award winning musical, which runs September 9 through October 3. To enter the contest, fill out the form here from August 23 through September 7.

On September 1st, gaytravel.com will announce who will be the first Gay Travel Guru after a final challenge in Las Vegas. The announcement will be made on “The Frank DeCaro Show” on Sirius/XM OutQ. The appointed Gay Travel Guru will spend six months traveling North America, sharing his/her adventures through social networks about how to “travel queer anywhere.” He/she will receive a salary equal to $30,000 for the six-month period, a stipend for each trip to cover meals and other miscellaneous costs, and company paid airfare, hotel stay and transportation.

Author: Jon Fairbanks

Bourbon Street has a carnival atmosphere on most weekends, but Labor Day Weekend is a party like no other in the Dirty South.  Southern Decadence, SoDec or Gay Mardi Gras is a legendary circuit party that has gone on for more than three decades.  Hurricanes, oil spills and other disasters haven’t stopped LGBT travelers from flocking to the Crescent City.  If anything, it’s given “the city that care forgot” another reason to lift a plastic cup.

Author: Jon Fairbanks

Win FAME: Taylor Lautner. Erie Gay News is giving away 20 copies of this comic book from Bluewater Productions. To enter the contest, fill out the form here from August 20 through September 10.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Servicemembers United, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian troops and veterans, announced today that it will host another "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" lobby day for repeal supporters on Thursday, September 16, 2010. The fall lobby day, affectionately nicknamed "The Final Assault," will come at a critical time after the Senate reconvenes but before the chamber is expected to take up the repeal-inclusive defense authorization bill. Participants can register for the September 16th "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" lobby day at www.ServicemembersUnited.org.

(New York, August 19, 2010) – Cameroon should decriminalize consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex, Human Rights Watch and Alternatives-Cameroun said today. The groups urged the government of Cameroon to put into effect immediately the recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Committee made public on July 29, 2010, to bring Cameroon’s law into conformity with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

More Brett Fallon videos at http://brettfallon.weebly.com/

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Join us for Persad's Red Tag Sale fundraising event which will be held at Imagebox Gallery, 4933 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224 on Saturday, September 18 from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm with an opening night wine and cheese reception.  The sale will continue on Sunday, September 19 from 11:00 am - 3:00 pm as part of the Friendship House Tour.  All proceed from the sale of works of art by regional and national artists benefit Persad Center, the region's counseling and well being center for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.  The Red Tag sale is hosted by Dan Iddings and Persad Center with special thanks to John Mahood and Imagebox Gallery.  Admission is free!  RSVP to diddings@comcast.net.  For more information on Persad visit www.persadcenter.org.  For Imagebox Gallery visit www.imagebox.com.

What happens when you meet someone through a sexual experience and then discover that there might be more...much more.  How do you turn sex into love?  Or can you?  As a psychotherapist with a practice largely of Gay/Bi/Trans men, I encourage my clients to see a good relationship as a marriage (pun intended) of mind, heart and dick. If any one of these is left out, good luck!  When you let your dick lead you into sex with someone, tell the truth about it: the dicks were in charge! And we've all been there. But what happens when what started off as just a sex hook-up becomes more: when your heart and mind start to get involved?  Wow!  What a great surprise, isn't it?

Author: Michael Kimmel

This weekend, Target customers fed up with Target's shameless attempt to buy the MN election took their message straight to their local store—but with a great creative twist! Target seems to be hoping the outrage will die down. Let's show the company it won't.

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JACKSON, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit against a Mississippi high school that excluded a female student's name and senior portrait from the yearbook rather than publish a photo of her in a tuxedo. The lawsuit charges that Ceara Sturgis was unfairly discriminated against by the Wesson Attendance Center based on her sex and unfair gender stereotypes

A former Erieite is a finalist in the T-shirt design contest contest for Pandora Boxx of RuPau;s Drag Race and needs your vote! He currently in second place and need smore votes! You have until August 26 to vote. You need to become a fan of Pandora Boxx first at http://www.facebook.com/thepandoraboxx, then follow this link for Jimmy's design and then click the "like" button under his design. Thanks!!!

The Ninth Circuit granted a stay in Perry v. Schwarzenegger while they hear the appeal on the constitutionality of Prop 8.

(New York, August 16, 2010) – The landmark ruling on August 16, 2010, by Mexico’s Supreme Court recognizing the right of same-sex couples to adopt children in Mexico City upholds the core principle of equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in all aspects of their lives, including family life, Human Rights Watch said today.

Yesterday, equality advocates, Freedom to Marry and Courage Campaign, and the Anti-Gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) concluded competing "Summer for Marriage" tours through 17 states and 23 cities at events in Washington D.C. At each stop on the tour, marriage equality supporters organized by Freedom to Marry and dozens of local activist groups outnumbered NOM supporters by more than 3 to 1.

Yesterday was my thirty-ninth birthday. I chose to wake with the roosters and run a five kilometer race to begin my fete of this event. I ruminated on my choice of a celebratory method before, during, and after this strenuous competition.  I discovered many reasons why I dragged my partner and our little canine companion along with me to this athletic spectacle.

Author: Ron Blake

PFLAG Butler will be making an important presentation at the Butler Area School Board meeting on Monday, August 16, If you live in the area, you are encouraged to attend!

Author: Joe Tomlinson

From NPR: A woman ends her marriage of 12 years, begins dating and finds love again — but this time, with another woman. For many years, researchers assumed so-called "late-life lesbians" were simply repressed by society until they felt comfortable coming out. But that's not entirely the case, says Lisa Diamond, a researcher at the University of Utah who is studying whether sexuality is fluid or fixed. Diamond has been studying a group of 79 women for 15 years to track changes in their sexuality.

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From GayRealEstate.com: Buying a home as a gay couple can be a really rewarding experience and a savvy investment strategy. But those buying through a LGBT partnership should be aware of the unique legal implications of that kind of transaction. Until the laws are changed to ensure equal rights the concept of owning a house as a LGBT couple is different from home ownership as a legally married heterosexual couple.

On Saturday, August 14 at 9:30 AM, there will be an LGBT Conference Call in offices for Joe Sestak, Democratic candidate for US Senate, across the state. The way this works is that people would come to the local office, and the office wil;l dial into the call and listen to Joe Sestak talk about LGBT issues. If someone has a question for the Congressman, and we know about it beforehand, they can ask him (because we have 20 offices across the state, each office only gets one question). Joe Sestak's Erie office is located at 3409 State Street between 34th and 35th Streets. Please RSVP to Chris Black at (814) 746-4766 or chris.black@joesestak.com